Agriculture Secretary visits school awarded for Healthy Meals Initiative

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture marked National School Lunch Week with a visit from Secretary Ed Wengryn to Timberlane Middle School in the Hopewell Valley Regional School District.

Wengryn, who has no political party affiliation and resides in Trenton, is the grandson of Ukrainian immigrants who settled in New Jersey as farmers, and he was appointed by the State Board of Agriculture and approved by Governor Phil Murphy in March. 

Wengryn is only the eighth Secretary of Agriculture for New Jersey since 1916. New Jersey’s Secretary of Agriculture is the department’s executive officer, Chair of the State Agriculture Development Committee, and a member of the governor’s cabinet.

The visit aimed to highlight the district’s student meal program and its recent recognition by the USDA and Action for Healthy Kids with a Healthy Meals Initiative Award for Innovation in the Preparation of School Meals.

Wengryn, accompanied by USDA staff and local officials, toured the school’s lunchroom, which features a farm stand offering fresh fruits and vegetables daily.

The menu for the day included General Tso chicken with locally sourced baby bok choy, various chicken tenders, a build-your-own burger station, a pasta bar, and pizza, along with garden and Caesar salad options.

“Timberlane Middle School and the Hopewell Valley Regional School District demonstrated today that they are very deserving of their Healthy Meals Initiative recognition,” said Wengryn. “By offering a variety of healthy food options, schools can help students develop lifelong nutritional habits.”

The Hopewell Valley Regional School District participates in the USDA Department of Defense Direct Delivery Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, enabling it to use commodity funds to purchase fresh produce.

The district has allocated over $90,000 for this program for the 2024-2025 school year.

Hopewell Valley Regional schools Superintendent Dr. Rosetta Treece emphasized the importance of establishing healthy eating habits.

“Our students have the opportunity to make good choices about what they eat with a wide range of high-quality options available here,” said Treece.

New Jersey schools adhere to USDA nutrition standards, which emphasize a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy options while limiting unhealthy components such as saturated fats, trans fats, sodium, and calories.

The Meals Incentives Recognition Awards celebrate School Food Authorities (SFA) that have improved the nutritional quality of their meals and engaged students and families in nutrition education.

Diana Limbacher, USDA Food and Nutrition Service Mid-Atlantic Regional Deputy Administrator, commended New Jersey’s efforts, stating, “We applaud the District for their menu preparations based on student preferences and tasty scratch recipes.”

National School Lunch Week, initiated by the School Nutrition Association, aims to promote participation in the National School Lunch Program and recognize the efforts of school districts in providing nutritious meals.

Approximately 670,000 children in New Jersey benefit from this program.

The Department of Agriculture supports programs that contribute to the economic growth of production agriculture and the marketing of agricultural products via the Jersey Fresh initiative. It also supports the conservation and development of natural and renewable resources, the distribution of surplus federal commodities to various institutions such as soup kitchens, food pantries, schools, and state hospitals, and the health and well-being of the state’s greenhouse/nursery and livestock industries, among other related programs.