Citrus County makes sure kids have an extra meal on school campuses
While all 67 Florida school districts are required by state law to provide breakfast and lunch on school campuses, the Citrus County School District goes one step further to fill the gap and provide more fuel for students who continue learning, interacting and performing several hours after their lunch period has ended.
Roy Pistone, Citrus County School District's director of Food and Nutrition Services, said the rules have changed a lot over the past 30 years when it comes to prepping meals and serving thousands of school children, but the need remains the same.
“Children can learn without books, but a child cannot learn without food,” said Pistone, who also serves as the president of the Florida School Nutrition Association.
“We have outstanding teachers here in Citrus County as well as across the state and nation," he added. "But if a child is hungry, their attention span is very low and they will never be able to learn. So, the importance of us providing these free meals to our children is of the utmost importance."
In partnership with the Florida Department of Health, the district serves a free Super Snack meal to all students participating in any qualified after-school program, including athletics, band, YMCA and numerous school clubs.
Some students eat lunch in the cafeteria as early as 11 a.m. before going back to class, but school administrators say many after school programs can run late into the evening.
Pistone said Super Snacks are designed to be a nutritious, complete meal that is packed with protein.
“Each one of our super snack meals has at least 19 grams of protein, which is especially important for our athletes because they definitely need a little extra protein,” he said.
“If you have a 275-pound offensive lineman on one of our high school football teams, he needs some extra calories from what he got during lunch," Pistone added. "Super Snacks provide our students with whole grains, vegetables, milk, fruit, and they get the whole gamut of what they need to be able to succeed.”
He said the goal is to boost students’ brain power and energy at the end of a long school day as they transition to the next round of extracurricular activities.
Citrus County students are required to have at least 15 to 20 minutes of academic enrichment with the meal.
“They usually come into our cafeteria and do about 15 to 20 minutes’ worth of homework while they’re eating our Super Snack meals,” said Pistone.
Three Bay Area school districts, Citrus, Polk and Hernando, fall under the federal government’s Community Eligibility Provision, which allows schools to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students on every campus in the district.
Approximately 70% of students in Citrus County qualify for free or reduced meals.