Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School

Food & Nutrition

 

Berkeley Unified School District’s School Lunch Initiative has two primary goals:

1. Serve nutritious and delicious, freshly prepared meals using locally grown food to all of our students

2. Educate children in kitchen, garden, and academic classrooms about their food choices and the impact those choices have on their health, the community, and the environment.

 

There are no processed foods, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, refined sugars, refined flour, chemicals, dyes, additives, and nitrates in BUSD school lunches. Regional organic milk is served at lunch, and local and/or organic fruits and vegetables are used as much as possible.

 

You can help support the School Lunch Initiative by purchasing school lunch for your child.

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Visit BUSD Nutritional Services for more information on BUSD food policies.

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Breakfast

A free nutritious breakfast is provided to all students in their classrooms during the first period of the day (not counting zero period).

 

While breakfast items change every year, here are examples that have been served:

 

Bagels and cream cheese

Whole grain cereals 

Locally made muffins 

Milk and fresh fruit are always offered 

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Lunch

 

Students eat lunch in the Dining Commons, one of the most spectacular cafeteria spaces in any public school.

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Entire BUSD Middle School Lunch Calendar

 

Paying for Lunch

Full lunch fee is $4.00. Students may pay for their meal at lunch or you may set up an account for your student online at EZSchoolPay.com.

 

Students access this account using their student identification number.

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What was once reduced-fee lunch is now FREE to students whose families qualify. Application forms are available at the Welcome Fair or in the school office after the year has begun. You can also apply online on the EZMealApp website.

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Nutrition Education

Sixth grade students begin their nutrition education at King with the Wheel Program class What’s on Your Plate. In this class, students examine the choices we make concerning our food through a variety of activities, films, and projects. Some of the art projects they do include scale fruit and veggie drawings and swirl line drawings. They watch videos about nutrition, digestion, and farming as well as read excerpts from the book Chew on This. They discuss where our food comes from, comparing sustainable agriculture vs. non-sustainable and organic farming vs. mono-culture farming. They also examine what is in our food, looking at fat and sugar content as well as processed vs. unprocessed foods. The Dining Commons supply tasters from the lunch menu so that students can taste and learn to appreciate new foods. Teachers also bring tastings of fresh fruits and vegetables from the farmers market.

 

Students continue learning to make food choices that are nutritionally sound and environmentally responsible in King’s Edible Schoolyard. In the garden, they learn the basic tenants of growing food by working with compost, propagating plants in the greenhouse, cultivating beds, and harvesting fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs. In the kitchen classroom, students gain an understanding of the basic tools and techniques of preparing food, how to read and execute a recipe, and how to share food around the table. As the Edible Schoolyard is fully integrated in to the academic experience at King, participation also reinforces classroom learning in areas such as ancient civilizations, ecology, and life systems.