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Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day and in the Asbury Park School District all 1,995 students begin the day with the morning meal.

On Tuesday morning Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. [NJ-06] stopped into a few Thurgood Marshall Elementary School classrooms as students readied for the school day. 

“I’m here today because I want to make sure that in our Congressional District, as well as nationally, that the program continues to exist and actually expands,” said Pallone, who has been a strong advocate for school nutrition program funding throughout his time in Congress. “Part of what we saw today was that each of the kids are getting their breakfast in the classroom.”

On the menu – Trix cereal, milk, and healthy snacks.

Serving breakfast to each of the district’s students at their desks takes away any stigma associated with those who may need the free meal the most but do not want to go the cafeteria prior to the school day, he said.

“The other thing we saw today is how they are trying to make the meals more nutritious,” Pallone said.

Pallone led the charge against President Donald Trump’s FY18 Budget, which calls for more than $193 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [SNAP] over the next ten years; a more than 25 percent cut.

He is also the cosponsor of H.Res. 363, which supports a federal and publicly funded universal school meal and nutrition program. The resolution recognizes the importance of school nutrition programs and their ability to help end childhood hunger.

Superintendent Lamont Repollet said the district will launch a farm to table program next week that allows students to visit a nearby farm to help grow, harvest, and eventually use fresh produce. The initiative is funded through support from the Monmouth County Freeholders.

“I think these are the experiences our urban kids need,” Repollet said. “In having the experience of going from farm to table, they can truly understand the preparation it takes. It’s called experiential learning; putting our kids in situations where they can actually learn.”

Repollet said the initiative, and others – like the recent trip to Ghana, help in the developing students to be global citizens. They also wok in partnership with Sodexo in running a Future Chef program, which allows students to be judged on their own menu creations.

Joined by Assistant Superintendent Sancha Gray, NJ Anti-Hunger Coalition Director Adele LaTourette, NJ Food for Thought Project Manager Nancy parello at Advocates for Children of NJ,  Fulfill Food Bank Director Carlos Rodriguez, and Boys and Girls Club of Monmouth County Executive Director Douglas Eagles, Pallone and Repollet were led through a tour of the school by Principal Thea Jackson.

Along the way they spoke of the district’s diverse make up, consisting of 15 to 17 percent Haitian population, 22 to 25 percent Hispanic, and the remainder comprised of African American population. Repollet said there is a small percent of white and Asian American students.

Repollet and Pallone spoke not only of nutrition but also of the district’s English Language Learning programs for students and their parents. The latter is run through the district’s Dorothy McNish Parent Learning Center.

“Through our partnership with Brookdale, we have ESL [English as a Second Language] classes for adults,” Repollet said. “We have two computer labs; healthy eating [classes], our GED program, and adult literacy programs.”

When asked if the DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] immigration policy is having a negative affect on program participation, Repollet said they did see some students [primarily Hispanic] pull out of participating in last spring’s trip to Ghana, but other than the district programs allow the students and parents to feel welcomed in a non threatening environment.

The tour stopped in on a number of classrooms, where some students blended the first period lesson with casually finishing up their breakfast, before ending at the Monroe Avenue school’s cafeteria.  

Douglas Eagles, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Monmouth County said federal funding support allowed his organization to serve over 18,000 free meals last year through a partnership with Fulfill in Neptune. The food bank’s culinary students prepare the meals.

“During the school year, it’s dinner and a snack every night and during the summer it’s breakfast, lunch and a snack,” Eagles said. “The meals are all healthy [because] Fulfill has very strict guidelines in terms of the quality of food that they produce.”

For Pallone, the federal assistance to ensure distribution of nonprofit breakfast programs in schools and residential childcare institutions, is paramount.

“We must continue investing in our children and addressing hunger in schools,” Pallone said. “Free and reduced-price breakfast make a difference in the lives of thousands of New Jersey children, but proposed cuts by the Trump administration would put programs like Asbury Park’s in jeopardy. More must be done to get nutritious meals to students and that is a top priority of mine in Congress.”

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