July 8, 2025 |Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Education, LCTV News, News, Resources, State of MA, Youth

8.3 Million More School Meals Being Served in Massachusetts

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Wilmington Public Schools celebrated as Terrific Tray winner for their healthy, locally sourced meals

The Healey-Driscoll Administration announced today that participation in school meals continued to climb during the 2024-25 school year, the third year of state-supported universal free school meals. Preliminary data for the 2024-25 school year show an 11,000 increase in the number of students eating school lunch each day and a 20,000 increase in the number of students eating school breakfast compared to the prior year. Data for the most recent complete year available, the 2023-24 school year, show an increase of $8.3 million meals served compared to the 2022-23 school year.  With support from a combination of state and federal funding, 7 out of 10 students in Massachusetts eat a free and healthy breakfast or lunch at school.

As part of efforts to highlight the outstanding work happening in school cafeterias, Wilmington Public Schools has received the 2025 Massachusetts Terrific Tray of the Year award. This recognition from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and Massachusetts Farm to School celebrates the district’s rotisserie chicken meal, which featured locally sourced food from Massachusetts and other parts of New England.

“Congratulations to Wilmington Public Schools’ nutrition staff and to all the school nutrition workers and farmers who have collaborated to make sure Massachusetts students have healthy meals,” said Governor Maura Healey. “I’m proud of our state’s commitment to Universal Free School Meals, and we will continue to support schools with purchasing local foods.”

“Schools have made amazing meals with ingredients sourced from across New England,” said Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll. “These appealing and healthy meals help fuel students’ bodies and minds for learning.”

Total meals served and participation from the second year of universal free school meals in Massachusetts (2023-24): 

• 101.7 million total lunches served,
• 584,000 students ate lunch every school day,
• 48.6 million total breakfasts served, and
• 272,000 students ate breakfast every school day. 

The incorporation of local foods into school meals is one way that universal free school meals supports both the state’s students and its economy. One resource available to school districts’ nutrition programs has been local and regional distributors and food hubs, which can help districts identify local and affordable sourcing options for school meals. The Trump Administration’s federal cuts to farm-to-school efforts and the Local Food for School program will make this more difficult in the future. The state budget Governor Healey signed last week includes $180 million to continue universal free school meals and $750,000 for Massachusetts FRESH grants, which help schools expand their capacity to grow or procure local food and educate students, teachers, school nutrition professionals and staff about the local food system. 

“Congratulations to Wilmington Public Schools on being recognized for the Terrific Tray of the Year and to all of this year’s honorees,” said Education Secretary Dr. Patrick Tutwiler. “The state’s Terrific Tray winners are great examples of what can happen when we prioritize child nutrition – promoting student food security and wellbeing and supporting our local farmers and businesses.”

“It’s a pleasure to see schools and local farms working together to feed both students and the regional economy. We know that our students learn best when they have access to healthy foods.”

Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Pedro Martinez

Eight schools and districts were recognized as Terrific Tray monthly winners over the past school year, and Wilmington was announced as the overall winner during a ceremony at the Healthy Kids, Healthy Programs Annual Summit for school nutrition and wellness professionals. Thanks to the generosity and partnership of the Henry P. Kendall Foundation, each of the 2025-26 school year monthly Terrific Tray winners will receive $2,500 to invest in their school meal program.

“The recipe used in my Terrific Tray submission, rotisserie chicken, is a recipe I developed almost 30 years ago, using cut-up chicken available through the USDA Foods program. Who would have guessed, 29 years later, we would have the means to procure fresh Massachusetts-raised chicken to create the same recipe,” said Wilmington School Nutrition Director Mary Palen. 

“Wilmington Public Schools is the only school I have worked with so far as a smaller farmer,” said farmer Steve Hall of Nallie Pastures. “But this has been a great opportunity for a small operation like mine to grow our business and provide high quality food to kids.”

Monthly Terrific Tray winners were chosen based on meal appeal and the use of locally grown ingredients. Winners were featured on social media with the #TerrificTray hashtag. Massachusetts Farm to School and DESE chose the monthly winners, but the annual winner was decided through public voting.

“Wilmington’s Terrific Tray is a great example of what is possible when schools have help connecting with local producers and a reliable funding stream to offer new, locally grown items in their cafeterias while investing in our local farms and fisheries,” said Simca Horwitz, co-director of Massachusetts Farm to School.

The monthly Terrific Tray recipients were as follows:

• Springfield Public Schools (September)
• Wilmington Public Schools (October – also awarded Terrific Tray of the Year)
• Seekonk Public Schools (November)
• Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District (December)
• Falmouth Public Schools (January)
• Everett Public Schools (February)
• Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School (in Northampton) (March)
• Brookline Public Schools (April)

In Massachusetts, nutrition support for students continues over the summer. While school is out, students can find free meals through Summer Eats, and many families will receive additional food assistance for their children through SUN Bucks.

The above press release was submitted to us by the MA Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education.