Overview

Each day, Nutrition Support Services serves over 77,000 school breakfasts and 280,000 school lunches, providing our students with the nutrition necessary for healthy growth and intellectual development, in compliance with city, state and federal regulations and guidelines.

It is our mission to support Chicago Public Schools' instructional programs by providing nutritious and appealing meals and quality service to every student, every school day.  We believe each member of our team plays an important role by:

• Making students our number one priority
• Ensuring meals are healthy and satisfying
• Providing a safe and clean environment for school meals

Our services distribute over 9,554,900 pounds of mail and materials each year to school units and administrative offices, facilitating effective communication and delivery of needed resources within the Chicago Public Schools system.

Goals

Our goals are aimed at making sure our students receive healthy, nutritious and appetizing meals that will ultimately contribute to their success in the learning environment. We:

• Offer nutritious, appetizing meals that will contribute to the growth and good health of our students.
• Provide a safe and pleasant environment for children's meals at school.
• Contribute to our students' understanding of the benefits of eating healthy foods.
• Comply with all city, state and federal regulations governing the preparation, serving and storage of school meals, as well as the keeping of records and other procedures related to government programs.
• Provide timely and efficient distribution of mail and other materials to school units and administrative offices.

Current initiatives

In order to achieve our goals, our current initiatives target key areas where development and improvement are needed:

• Stimulate increased participation in the breakfast, lunch, snack and summer meal programs, through the creation of a clearer, more concise Household Application for Free and Reduced-Price Meals and to communicate the programs' benefits to parents and guardians through trained school staff members.
• Implement Universal Breakfast program
• Evaluate and update school kitchen and serving facilities
• Create and participate in programs that will continue to offer healthy food choices and will educate our students in the value of healthy eating
• Improve compliance with city, state and federal regulations and guidelines, through improved auditing and follow-up

Accomplishments

Nutrition Support Services has been instrumental and continues to play an important role in the fight against childhood obesity. As the department continues to implement programs that benefit our students, it uses the guiding principle that program changes must be far-reaching and sustainable. Programs implemented this past school year to improve the healthfulness of meals served in the schools include:

• The elimination of whole and 2% milk
• Menus planned with zero trans fats
• Increased consumption of fresh fruit through special presentation
• The elimination of the use of fryers in all schools in the District
• Increased frequency of fresh vegetables on the menus

Resources

Household Eligibility application:  English |  Spanish 

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