This Kennewick school has a new idea for getting kids to eat better — and throw away less

The iconic carton of milk could soon be a thing of the past at one Kennewick school.

It’s part of an effort to reduce childhood hunger — and also help the environment.

Amon Creek Elementary staffers had an idea to make their school meals more enticing by making them more like eating in a restaurant.

A dining experience might get more students to eat school meals but also could cut back on wasted food and extra garbage.

It turned out to be a winning idea.

The Kellogg Company and No Kid Hungry awarded Amon Creek Elementary $5,000 as part of the Elevate the Plate Challenge.

The initiative was intended to reward schools that use creative and innovative strategies to improve school meal participation, reducing hunger and boosting nutrition.

“One of the biggest contributors to waste is discarded milk cartons. Students often throw away half-filled milk containers or containers that haven’t been opened,” said a Kennewick district news release.

By installing a self-service milk station with washable cups, students will be able to pour the amount of milk they want and eliminate the extra packaging from milk cartons and pouches.

The machine would be the first one in the Kennewick district.

School officials and the district’s nutrition services department will be applying for other grants to combine with the $5,000 Kellogg award to buy the $16,000 milk station.

“We are grateful and honored to be a part of this opportunity with Kellogg and No Kid Hungry,” said Sam Shick, Kennewick’s Nutrition Services director. “We believe that increasing the quality of our program and decreasing waste at the school will not only encourage more kids to participate, but it will also demonstrate our commitment to the environment.”

Wendy Davidson, president of Kellogg’s Away From Home, said in a release, “We’re also thrilled to celebrate the outstanding team at Amon Creek Elementary who is leading the way in creating delicious, replicable approaches that encourage more kids to participate in and enjoy school meals.”

Amon Creek was one of 10 schools nationwide to receive a grant.

“Three out of four public school teachers say students regularly come to school hungry,” said Jill Davis, chief revenue officer with No Kid Hungry. “But we know getting kids healthy meals at school is a critical step in ending childhood hunger once and for all in America.”

In the past four years, the Kellogg and No Kid Hungry partnership has supported nearly 1 million kids gaining access to 154 million breakfasts annually, said the release.

This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 2:24 PM.