Auburn Middle School Meals Program

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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I recently visited a visionary school meals program in Auburn, Massachusetts, that is providing students with nutritious, scratch-cooked meals and teaching them how to grow food using hydroponics.

Under the leadership of Superintendent Elizabeth Chamberland, Principal Gregg Desto, Food Services Director Brianne Pulver, and with the support from the Auburn School Committee, Auburn Middle School is showing all of us how transformative school meal programs can be in nourishing minds and educating students.

Utilizing a Federal Farm to School grant, AMS is prioritizing locally sourced foods. On May 8, they celebrated the 508 Day, our area code in central Massachusetts, where they serve meals prepared entirely from locally grown and produced foods. They have recently started a food recovery program to reduce waste. It is incredible.

On my visit, I also learned that, since Massachusetts adopted universal free school meals, even more kids are taking advantage of nutritious options at schools. The kids were happy, and the food looked delicious. Let's expand this kind of programming to all schools in order to promote better nutrition and to end hunger now.

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