NJ considers dispensing quick and healthy breakfast at schools

In an effort to get more students to participate in school breakfast programs, New Jersey lawmakers are hoping to enlist the help of a healthier version of a vending machine.

A bill advanced by an Assembly committee would create a pilot program in three school districts to make breakfast food available at kiosks stationed near a school entrance.

That would allow students to have easy access to breakfast without having to pay for a full-price meal price in the school cafeteria, said Assemblywoman Pam Lampitt.

“If you want to get the yogurt in a tube or grab a banana, you¹re able to acquire nutritious items in a more cost effective way,” said Lampitt, D-Camden.

Adele LaTourette, director of the New Jersey Anti-Hunger Coalition, said a healthy breakfast can help kids learn.

“It feeds their brain. It makes sure that they have fewer issues in the classroom,” she testified before the committee. “They’re able to sit still, they’re able to absorb information, and they’re less of a problem.”

Jennifer Maloney with the New Jersey Principals and Superintendents Association agreed with the strategy as a way of increasing student participation in school breakfast programs.