Palmerton Area School District announced Tuesday it applied for two food service grants that, if successful, would fund two new pieces of equipment for its kitchens.

Business Manager Ryan Kish said the applications, submitted last week, are for a new roll-through refrigerator at Parkside Education Center and a new oven at S.S. Palmer Elementary.

“We consulted with our food service director to determine our needs,” Kish said. “The refrigerator will allow more healthy food items to be held on site and the oven will replace one that is currently on its last legs.”

The total requested amount from the grants, Kish said, is $16,500.

Around $30 million in equipment grants were made available by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service division earlier this year and $50 million more was just recently announced by the Biden administration.

“Ensuring access to nutritious school meals is one of the best investments we can make in our fight to end child hunger and improve health,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a statement accompanying announcement of the most recent equipment grants. “As we celebrate the valiant efforts of school nutrition professionals across the country this National School Lunch Week, USDA is doubling down on our commitment to helping schools overcome challenges including higher food prices and continued supply chain disruptions.”

School districts can use the funds to purchase upgraded equipment that will support serving healthier meals, including those sourced from local foods; implementing scratch cooking; establishing or expanding school breakfast; storing fresh food; and improving food safety.

“We’ll update the school board when the grant is awarded,” Kish said. “That will likely be sometime in January.”

Free breakfast

All students across Pennsylvania started having access to free breakfast at school earlier this month and Kish said the program has gotten off to a successful start in Palmerton.

“We doubled our weekly average number of breakfasts served since the program started,” Kish said.

The $21.5 million program is funded with prior year funding from the School Food Services General Fund appropriation. It will run through the end of the 2022-23 school year.

“There are talks about a universal free student lunch program as part of the White House’s strategy to increase healthy eating and end hunger by 2030, but we’ll have to wait and see where that ends up,” Kish said.