Healthy Meal Programs

Farm to School is a program that connects K-12 schools and farmers who produce local foods. The goals of the program are to serve healthy meals, improve student nutrition, provide agriculture, health and nutrition education opportunities and support the local and regional economy. The first Thursday of each month, known as "Nebraska Thursdays", our menu will feature items that are grown, produced or packaged in Nebraska. It is our way of supporting the local economy and highlighting Nebraska companies.

Serving a variety of fruits and vegetables and helping students to learn and enjoy these foods is part of the important work we do. When planning our menus, we pay particular attention to offering a variety of fruits and vegetables that are rich in Vitamins A and C. Plus, we want our students to learn the importance these foods play in a healthy diet. The program introduces new and different fruits and vegetables all school year. Each month, we highlight a fruit or vegetable that we normally do not serve to our students. We provide fun facts and nutrition information plus during lunch, we provide each student with a sample. At the end of each month, we review the popularity of the item and decide whether or not to add it to our menus

Nutrition Services believes every child should have the opportunity to experience a wide variety of foods. To encourage this, Omaha Public Schools participates in the United States Department of Agriculture's Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP). The program is a creative and effective way to encourage fresh fruits and vegetables as healthy snacks throughout the school day. FFVP also introduces children to a variety of foods that they otherwise may not have the opportunity to sample. The program teaches the importance of healthy eating habits to impact childrens' diets in the present and future. Participating schools order fresh fruits and vegetables from Nutrition Services twice a week, and teachers incorporate them into the classroom as a learning tool.  Schools participating in the 2025-2026 school year are: Bancroft, Belvedere, Castelar, Central Park, Chandler View, Field Club, Fontenelle, Franklin, Gifford Park, Gilder, Hartman, Highland, Jefferson, Kennedy, King Elementary, Liberty, Masters, Miller Park, Pawnee, Pinewood, Skinner, Spring Lake, Wakonda, and Walnut Hill.