Congressman Gonzalez Celebrates Rio Grande Valley School District Winners of “Turnip the Beet” Award for Summer 2022    

RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Today, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34) celebrated three Rio Grande Valley school districts who were named as winners of the 2022 "Turnip the Beet" program that serve high-quality meals to children during the summer. Brownsville Independent School District, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District, and Rio Hondo Independent School District were all honored with this national recognition. The program is within the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and the National School Lunch Program Seamless Summer Option (SSO) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).

"I am excited to celebrate our local school districts and their amazing achievements that have benefitted so many children in our community," stated Congressman Gonzalez. "This recognition is no surprise and highlights the efforts our schools and personnel champion to ensure students are fed during the summer. Congratulations to these deserving institutions on this amazing accomplishment and thank you for what you continue to do for our kids!"

"We are very excited to have earned the Silver Award of the Turnip the Beet program, "said Dr. René Gutiérrez, superintendent of schools at Brownsville Independent School District. "Our Food and Nutrition Services Department is made up of a team of food and nutrition professionals that are dedicated to students' health, well-being, and their ability to learn. We support learning by promoting healthy habits for lifelong nutrition and fitness practices."

"The biggest honor goes to the entire PSJA Child Nutrition Team. We know when school ends, meals may be hard to come by for some children," stated Corina Gonzalez, Director of Child Nutrition at PSJA Independent School District. We make every effort to have nutritious meals accessible to all children. Whether serving meals from a bus, at a school campus or a community center here at PSJA ISD we understand that poor nutrition can become a health issue. Our goal every Summer is to create healthier communities by increasing food access and nutrition knowledge through our meal program. The biggest reward we receive are the smiles from the children receiving nutritious meals. We are grateful for the support from our Superintendent and School Board that allows us to serve meals all Summer long."

"We are so excited to have received this Silver Award. It gives us a sense of pride here at the Food Department of Rio Hondo ISD because we do our best to provide the most nutritionist meals to our students," stated Rocio Madrigal, Food Service Director at Rio Hondo Independent School District. "We make a huge effort every year to ensure our students receive the best. It gives us great satisfaction to receive this Silver Award in our RHISD Food Department."

The winning programs are as followed:

Gold Winner: Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District Child Nutrition Program

Silver Winner: Brownsville Independent School District – Food & Nutrition Services

Silver Winner: Rio Hondo Independent School District

Sponsored by the USDA, the "Turnip the Beet" Awards recognize outstanding summer meal programs across the nation who offer high quality meals to children that are appetizing, appealing, and nutritious during the summer months.

More information can be found here.

###