Alcona Community Schools received a Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award for improving the nutritional quality of their school meals, according to a Tuesday press release. Awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in collaboration with Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK), Alcona Community Schools received the Lunch Trailblaze award for work in providing fresh produce grown on school grounds in their hoop houses and community garden. Both of their cafeterias strive to provide low-sodium, scratch-cooked meals to students.

As an award recipient, Alcona Community Schools will receive national and local recognition and travel stipends to attend a national Healthy Meals Summit in Las Vegas. The Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Awards are open to all school districts. More information can be found at healthymealsincentives.org/recognition-awards.

AFHK is recognizing school districts that have made improvements to the nutritional quality of their school meals as part of a cooperative agreement to develop and implement the USDA FNS’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative. The Recognition Awards spotlight innovative practices, student and community engagement activities, and strategies schools have used to provide meals that are consistent with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.