Students and adult advocates told the Durham Public Schools Board of Education during public comment that school lunch quality, shortages and recent contract changes are harming student nutrition and ability to focus in class.

Representatives of UnBox and StudentU, the district's youth food policy council, related multiple incidents in which schools ran out of food during lunch periods. "Today, April 24, my school ran out of food," said JD Clement High School ninth grader Brian Alfaro Chavez. "Imagine going five hours in multiple classes with only a Pop-Tart as fuel." Other students described protein products served as "mystery meat paste" after the district ended its contract with a local distributor the students associated with the Good Food Program.

Registered dietitian Kamaria Mason urged the board to commit to funding and policy changes that preserve local and scratch-cooked options. "I urge you to support the Good Food Program by intentionally funding and allocating an annual fixed percentage of the DPS budget to maintain a minimum of 75% of existing contracts with organizations like Firsthand Foods and Red Hawk Farm," Mason said.

Students stressed both nutrition and taste as important to participation in the school meal program; several said the district's Good Food Program and local vendors had been steps forward that should be preserved. CFO Erik Teeter and Child Nutrition staff had earlier told the board the child nutrition program is working to realign finances and operations after contract changes; Teeter said the child nutrition director had done significant work to stabilize the program and that the district expects the program to be self-sustaining next year.

Board members acknowledged the testimony and asked administration to detail contract status and the program's financial outlook in follow-up materials.