Cultivating Change and Connection: Reflecting on the FOLCS Kindred Gathering
School Meals For All
Take Action for School Meals For All
School meals are an essential resource in feeding 30 million children every day. Making school meals free for all students ensures that every kid is nourished and ready to learn, regardless of their family’s income.
FoodCorps and our coalition partners are advocating for the continuation of school meals for all. With the end of pandemic-era waivers, districts in many states have needed to return to charging families for school meals. But no child should go hungry because of financial or bureaucratic burdens. Lawmakers must do more to make school meals for all permanent.
Learn more about school meals for all below and take action by urging your senators to prioritize children’s well-being.
“Take away all that red tape so we can serve students. We shouldn’t have to worry about meal applications. We should just be feeding kids.”
—Arlethia Brown, School Nutrition Director, Camden City School District, NJ
Key resources and background information
3 Reasons We Need School Meals for All
Why is school meals for all a policy one of our key policy priorities? This blog goes in-depth on some of the key ways schools meals for all advances equity in school nutrition.
Why Should All Kids Have Free Meals at School?
This one-page fact sheet about the importance of school meals for all is a helpful resource to share with key decision makers and legislators in your community.
Making Free School Meals a Reality in New Mexico
Inside the push by lawmakers and organizers to nourish New Mexico’s kids.
What is the Farm Bill? Updates For 2023
What you need to know about how the new Farm Bill will affect kids, schools, and communities.
FoodCorps Applauds Congress for Passing Keep Kids Fed Act to Extend Critical School Meal Program, Urges Lawmakers to Come Together and Make Program Permanent
Read our press release applauding Congress for extending critical meal program waivers, including school meals for all, through the summer.
FoodCorps Applauds Introduction of School Meals for All Bill
Read our press release supporting the introduction of the “Support Kids Not Red Tape Act of 2022,” which would extend school meals for all waivers until September 30, 2023.
Support Kids Not Red Tape Act of 2022 (S.3979)
Read the full bill text of the “Support Kids Note Red Tape Act of 2022,” introduced by Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) on March 31, 2022.
Keeping School Meals Flexible Act (H.R.6613)
Read the full bill text of the “Keeping School Meals Flexible Act,” introduced by Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) on February 4, 2022.
In the News
School meal participation drops after large school districts lose free meals for all
Tara Fitzpatrick, Food Management, June 28, 2023
After veto, Georgia finds funding to fuel free school meals program
Jabari Gibbs, The Current, June 26, 2023
Six States Have Made School Meals Free to All Students. Will More Follow?
Arianna Prothero, Education Week, June 23, 2023
A pandemic experiment in universal free school meals gains traction in the states
Adam Goldstein, Oregon Capital Chronicle, May 5, 2023
A New Federal Plan Could Make Free School Meals a Reality for More Students
Arianna Prothero, EducationWeek, March 22, 2023
Keep kids fed
Destiny Schlinker, FoodCorps Arkansas Program Associate Director, The Democrat-Gazette, April 8, 2022
To help Maine students, Collins’ leadership on child food insecurity must include Republican outreach
Ryan Parker, FoodCorps Maine Program Associate Director, Portland Press Herald, April 4, 2022
Senators revive school lunch debate with bill to extend universal free meals
Helena Bottemiller Evich and Jessica Calefati, Politico, March 31, 2022 – highlighting Umatilla School District, a FoodCorps service site in Oregon
Child hunger won’t end with COVID: Congress must extend nutrition waivers
Jamie Bussell and Luis Guardia, The Hill, March 31, 2022
Millions of children will miss healthy school meals when pandemic relief expires
Allison Aubrey, NPR, March 21, 2022 – highlighting Burke County Public Schools, a FoodCorps service site in Georgia
What you can do
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Have questions about school meals for all? Send us a note at advocacy@foodcorps.org.
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