Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman announced today that he has secured an additional $1.6 million Administrative Review and Training (ART) grant to update New Mexico’s school nutrition program.

The New Mexico Public Education Office will receive the ART grant to improve the technology used as they provide free or subsidized milk, lunches, and breakfasts to over 150,000 New Mexican children each school day.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding will provide training and technical assistance in an effort to reduce overall costs and minimize error, especially in rural communities, whose districts lack the resources to fully comply with complex federal regulations on their own.

“Many New Mexican children depend on free school lunches and breakfasts to eat healthfully every day,” Bingaman said.  “My hope is that this funding will increase efficiency so all children who need free or reduced-price meals can attain them, and we can reduce waste in the process.”

The USDA administers the school nutrition program through their Food and Nutrition Services department.  New Mexico’s school nutrition program is managed by the New Mexican Public Education Department.