• DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW

    • J ÐÓ°É Public Schools' Food Service operations are administered through the United States Department of Agriculture, the Mississippi Department of Education and the local School Board. Comprehensive regulations must be followed in order for the school district to be eligible for federal funding. JPS receives millions of dollars each year to operate Food Service. It is our goal to serve well-balanced, nutritious meals to all students, faculty, and staff members.

       Food Service Facts:

      • Food Service employs over 390 employees in 59 facilities in the district including on-site managers at 56 sites, a director, and three area supervisors.
      • There is on-site food preparation at 53 facilities. Barr, Davis Magnet, Capital City Alternative, and Power APAC are provided satellite service from other schools.
      • 78 percent of JPS students are served free or reduced meals.
      • Over 28,500 students eat school lunch each day.
      • Over 12,000 students eat school breakfast each day.
      • 57 schools offer the National Breakfast Program.
      • 59 schools offer the National School Lunch Program.
      • 34 schools offer snacks in the School Snack Program.
      • Almost 2 million breakfasts and 4.5 million lunches are served during the school year in JPS.
      • Every JPS cafeteria uses a computerized point-of-service system to send daily data to the Finance Office.
      • A Food Service Warehouse supports the schools' daily food production.
      • A state competitive food sales rule ensures that children are not in the position of having to decide between non-nutritious and nutritious foods before or during the meal service period.
      • As a means of reducing plate waste, the "offer vs. serve" feature is employed to allow students to choose less than all of the food items in the meal pattern.
      • JPS schools follow the USDA comprehensive meal pattern for breakfast, lunch, and snacks, in order to be eligible for federal reimbursement.
      • All school menus are created centrally and analyzed to make sure they meet dietary guidelines — especially the reduction of fat content.