Acting Education Secretary Visits New Bedford School's Meal Program

Kershaw highlights New Bedford's leadership in providing healthy, local food to students

Mar. 16, 2026 at 11:49am

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Acting Massachusetts Education Secretary Amy Kershaw visited Taylor Elementary School in New Bedford on Friday to celebrate the district's efforts to provide students with healthy, nutritious meals through its Grab and Go breakfast program. Kershaw, along with other state education officials, helped hand out meals to students and praised the school's commitment to serving fresh, local food.

Why it matters

New Bedford has been recognized as a leader in addressing food insecurity and providing students access to healthy meals, with the opening of a new 17,000-square-foot Culinary and Nutrition Center that allows the district to serve more nutritious, locally-sourced food across its schools.

The details

At Taylor Elementary, students are offered both warm and cold meals through the Grab and Go breakfast program, including a Portuguese scramble made with local linguica that Kershaw sampled. The new Culinary and Nutrition Center, completed in July, has enabled the district to serve as a food vendor for local charter and private schools as well, while also incorporating more locally-grown produce and products.

  • On Friday morning, March 16, 2026, Kershaw visited Taylor Elementary School.
  • The new Culinary and Nutrition Center was completed in July.

The players

Amy Kershaw

The acting Massachusetts Secretary of Education.

Rob Leshin

The Director of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Food and Nutrition Programs.

Sarah Cluggish

The Chief Program Officer of Project Bread, a non-profit focused on addressing food insecurity.

Rafaela Spence

The principal of Taylor Elementary School in New Bedford.

Andrew O'Leary

The superintendent of New Bedford Public Schools.

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What they’re saying

“I came to New Bedford today to celebrate the incredible work that this school district is doing to provide school breakfasts and lunch. We saw staff who feel deeply connected to the mission of providing healthy, nutrition, local food and met students who are excited to come to school and eat healthy food and learn new things about food and get ready for the day.”

— Amy Kershaw, Acting Massachusetts Secretary of Education

“New Bedford is really leading the way in creating a very holistic approach to school breakfasts. It's really an investment in the community at large.”

— Amy Kershaw, Acting Massachusetts Secretary of Education

“They've been so fundamentally critical ensuring that we're getting ongoing universal school meals for the kids throughout Massachusetts. They're also huge proponents of getting Breakfast After the Bell and ensuring that kids have maximum access to school meals.”

— Sarah Cluggish, Chief Program Officer, Project Bread

“I'm very grateful to New Bedford's food service team who have achieved record student participation in recent years and go above and beyond to ensure the highest standards in our breakfast and lunch programs all across the city.”

— Andrew O'Leary, Superintendent, New Bedford Public Schools

What’s next

The new Culinary and Nutrition Center will allow New Bedford Public Schools to continue expanding its meal programs and partnerships with local producers to provide even more fresh, healthy food to students across the district.

The takeaway

New Bedford's comprehensive approach to addressing student food insecurity, including its new state-of-the-art Culinary and Nutrition Center, demonstrates how schools can invest in the health and well-being of their communities by ensuring all students have access to nutritious meals.