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For immediate release: October 27, 2015

Creating a Hunger Free North Dakota Coalition Applauds Increased Access to Breakfast for North Dakota Students

The Creating a Hunger Free North Dakota Coalition applauds the state of North Dakota for making breakfast more accessible to school children across our state. As of the beginning of the 2015 school year, reduced-price breakfast is free for eligible students.

With recent media coverage and editorials highlighting the 25 percent increase in the number of North Dakota children living in poverty, the Hunger Free coalition says this kind of response helps families make sure their children obtain enough food when it is difficult to make ends meet at home.

The 2015 North Dakota Legislature included money in the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction’s budget to cover the 30 cent breakfast cost for families eligible for reduced-price breakfast. A household of four people with earnings from $2,628 to $3,739 per month can qualify for reduced-price breakfast. Eligibility guidelines for the 2015-2016 school year are posted at https://www.nd.gov/dpi/uploads/97/income_eligibility_guidelines20152016.pdf To determine if your family is eligible for breakfast benefits, please contact your local school district to request and complete a “Free and Reduced Price Meal” application.

Whether students eat breakfast at home or at school, breakfast helps students succeed!

• Breakfast helps children pay attention, perform problem-solving tasks, and improves memory.
• Children who eat school breakfast are likely to have fewer absences than those who do not.
• Eating breakfast can help improve math, reading, and standardized test scores.
• Children who eat breakfast are more likely to behave better in school and get along with their peers.

Many more children eat lunch than eat breakfast at school in North Dakota. During the 2014-2015 school year, more than 83,000 North Dakota children from kindergarten through grade 12 ate school lunches each day, while only an average of about 24,000 children ate school breakfasts. North Dakota schools are making it easier for students to eat breakfast at school by starting “Grab and Go” breakfasts or serving breakfast in the classroom.

The Creating a Hunger Free North Dakota Coalition is a statewide network, open to all with the vision of "a hunger-free North Dakota." To help reach the vision, the Coalition brings members together, shares data, educates and informs from this website