Seven-year-old Coloradan Leilani Hernandez knows it can be a scramble sometimes in the school cafeteria at Riverdale Elementary School in Thornton.
“We do have time to finish most of the food, if you’re the first in line,” she said.
However, for kids in the 2nd grade in some cases they are not getting enough time to eat during the school day.
“Sometimes finishing [the food], most of the time, throwing it,” said Hernandez.
Parents like Keyabu Jenkins have also noticed over the years a similar trend of students not having enough time to eat at school.
“I feel like when I took lunch to my daughter the other day, they were just kind of rushing them to get in and out,” said Jenkins. “I felt like it was kind of like a military, prison system.”
“We know, kids, if their tummies aren’t full and their wiggles aren’t out, they aren’t able to learn,” said Colorado state Rep. Jenny Willford.
Willford, a Democrat who represents the Northglenn and Thornton region, says it’s her own son’s experience at lunch in school that prompted her decision to lead a House bill in the Colorado Legislature this year to improve the way students get time to eat.