96. Offer no-cost school meals for all P-12 students

Partnerships and P-12 Education Systems 09.6.24

Here’s what the federal government can do:

  • Congress should enact legislation that would make meals free for all children in P-12 education, including during after school programs, without requiring families to apply for free and reduced-price meals.

Here’s what state government can do:

  • State legislatures should enact legislation that would make meals free for all children in P-12 education, including during after school programs, without requiring families to apply for free and reduced-price meals.

To support the nation’s well-being, policymakers should ensure that every child has the opportunity to engage in their learning by providing food security and free meals across P-12 education.

Hunger can change a child’s developing brain, create barriers to concentrating and learning in school, and negatively impact the opportunity to graduate from high school and transition to postsecondary education. [i] As a result of widespread dietary-related health concerns among Americans, the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) was signed into law in 1946 by President Truman as a “measure of national security to safeguard the health and well-being of the nation’s children.” [ii] Nearly 80 years later, it is long past due for food security to be a promise made to every child in the United States — where one in every five children are unsure of where they will get their next meal. [iii] There are currently eight states that ensure access to free meals for all students, including California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan,
Minnesota, New Mexico, and Vermont. [iv]

[i] “Feeding Our Human Capital: Food Insecurity and Tomorrow’s Workforce,” Children’s Healthwatch.
https://www.childrenshealthwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/FeedingHumanCapital_report.pdf.
[ii] U.S.C. title 42 – the public health and welfare. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2019-title42/html/USCODE-2019-title42-chap13-sec1751.htm.
[iii] “Child Hunger in America,” Feeding America. https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/child-hunger-facts#:~:text=More%20than%2013%20million%20children,will%20get%20their%20next%20meal.
[iv] Bylander, Alexis. “States Show Us What Is Possible With Free Healthy School Meals for All Policies,” Food
Research and Action Center, September 6, 2023. https://frac.org/blog/free-healthy-school-meals-for-all-policies#:~:text=Eight%20states%20are%20doing%20just,School%20Meals%20for%20All%20policies.