The Feed

"This month, we will be celebrating National School Lunch Week from October 14th to the 18th. This national event celebrates the National School Lunch Program, which feeds nearly 30 million kids across the country every year, and school meal programs for all the incredible work they do to feed the next generation. So be sure to stop by your school cafeteria for National School Lunch Week to thank your cafeteria staff for all the work they do to make sure all students have everything they need to succeed. Our cafeteria teams are a lifeline for local communities, and their passion and dedication to our students have helped Dallas ISD achieve excellence for generations.

—Debi Rowley, Executive Director, Food and Child Nutrition Services

Harvest of the Month is an initiative that promotes eating seasonal fruits and vegetables in our school cafeterias. Each month, Dallas ISD features a different fruit or vegetable on our campus menus so that we can increase access to fresh produce for Dallas ISD students. All of our Harvest of the Month produce is locally grown, and this initiative helps support Texas farms and farmers.

For the month of October, Dallas ISD will be serving Mushrooms in all school cafeterias! Our Mushrooms come from Kitchen Pride Mushroom Farm in Gonzales, Texas. Kitchen Pride is the premier supplier of fresh Texas mushrooms and has been consistently producing fresh, locally-grown, premium-quality mushrooms in Gonzales, Texas, since 1988.

"As Texans, we know that the heritage of Texas often centers around the family or community dinner table. And we are so happy that we get to contribute to that heritage!​"

—Greg McLain, Founder and Farmer, Kitchen Pride Mushrooms

To learn more about Kitchen Pride, watch the video below or click HERE!

#FarmFreshChallenge #FarmFresh Texas

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) was created in 1946 to provide nutritious meals to kids from low-income families who might not otherwise have access to a nutritious daily meal. As such, the NSLP has played an important role in ensuring the health and well-being of all public school students by giving students the fuel they need to succeed and helping to close the opportunity gap. Today, the National School Lunch Program serves nearly 30 million children every school day.

President John F. Kennedy created the National School Lunch Week (NSLW) in 1962 as an annual celebration to promote school lunch programs and the importance of healthy lunches for kids both in and out of the classroom.

October 2nd is National Custodian Appreciation Day!

This month, we would like to thank our custodial team here at our Maria Luna Food Service Facility! Our custodial team works hard, rain or shine, to make sure that everything here at Maria Luna is running smoothly and that our administrative staff have everything we need to feed the next generation. And, for many of us, they have become more than staff but good friends who always greet you with a smile in the morning and find time to talk with you throughout the day.

Thank you, James Brim, Lead Custodian, Ada Sagastizado, Custodian, and Andrea Calderón, Custodian, for your passion, dedication, and service to Dallas ISD!

Dallas ISD’s Food and Child Nutrition Services (FCNS) is proud to announce that we will continue the Afterschool Meals program under the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) for the 2024-2025 school year. The CACFP provides reimbursements for meals and snacks served to students ages 18 and under participating in afterschool programs. This means that Dallas ISD students who participate in afterschool programs at their local schools can receive a free snack or supper.

“It is so important for us to support all Dallas ISD students and do everything we can to ensure that they receive good nutrition throughout the entire school day, not just breakfast and lunch. The CACFP program allows us to extend our services outside the school day to students who are participating in afterschool programs so that they can get the nutrition and energy they need to accomplish their goals.”

— Debi Rowley, Executive Director, Food and Child Nutrition Services

To learn more about the CACFP click HERE!

Today, when we think of Halloween, we think of trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, getting together with friends or family, wearing costumes, and eating treats. But did you know that this holiday is actually two thousand years old? Our Halloween traditions originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of the summer harvest and the beginning of winter. The Celts believed that on the night of October 31, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred and that ghosts returned to walk among us. The Celts would celebrate by lighting bonfires and wearing costumes to ward off evil spirits.

A distinctly American version of Halloween emerged in the early 19th century when the customs of European immigrants merged with Native American beliefs, but celebrations were not widespread and typically were only seen in small communities in the South. Then, in the second half of the 19th century, millions of Irish immigrants came to the United States to escape famine and hardship. These immigrants helped popularize Halloween across the entire country.

To learn more about the history of Halloween, watch the video below:

To celebrate Halloween, we have chosen Crispy Screaming Potatoes as our recipe of the month. This quick, easy recipe features easily accessible ingredients and is the perfect way to celebrate the month of October with your friends and family. Click on the link below to watch the full video!