Hawaiʻi home to lowest school breakfast participation in U.S.

Hawaiʻi now holds the dubious honor of having the lowest school breakfast participation in the country, according to a release from the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center For Law & Economic Justice.

According to the newest national School Breakfast Scorecard, released Thursday by the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), 25,476 low-income children in Hawaiʻi participated in the National School Breakfast Program on an average school day in 2018-2019. That represents a decrease of 2.7 percent, or 1,047 students, from the previous year.

FRAC’s report finds that fewer than 40 low-income children in Hawaiʻi ate school breakfast for every 100 that received free or reduced-price school lunch during the 2018–2019 school year. This is far below the national average of 57.5 per 100.