What do you see as the benefits of universal school meal programs?
Do you eat breakfast, lunch or snacks from your school’s cafeteria? If so, what do you eat? Are they good, healthy or satisfying meals?
More than 95,000 schools serve free lunches to 21 million students each day, and there are calls to expand that. Should all public schools offer free lunch for children?
After all, free school meals can ease hunger and lead to better performance in class. They can also prevent “lunch shaming,” a term that has been used to describe what happens to families with unpaid school-meal debt. On the other hand, universal school food increases government costs, and some question why the state should be paying for the children of wealthier families to eat free.
In “How Free School Meals Went Mainstream,” Susan Shain writes about the increase in the number of American children who attend schools that offer free meals regardless of family income:
Kurt Marthaller, who oversees school food programs in Butte, Mont., faces many cafeteria-related challenges: children skipping the lunch line because they fear being judged, parents fuming about surprise bills they can’t afford, unpaid meal debts of $70,000 districtwide.
But at nearly half of Mr. Marthaller’s schools, these concerns have vanished. At those schools, all students get free breakfast and lunch, regardless of their family’s income. At one school, West Elementary, children grab milk cartons, cereal bars and bananas from folding tables on their way to class, with almost 80 percent of students eating breakfast there each school day.
“We’ve done a lot of good things to feed kids here in Butte,” Mr. Marthaller said. But introducing universal free meals, he added, was “probably the best thing we ever did.”
Advocates for free school meals have pushed for them to be offered to every student for a long time, but saw significant progress in the last decade and a half. Their first big win came quietly, in 2010, when Congress passed an under-the-radar policy called the community eligibility provision, which made it easier for schools to serve free meals to all. Then, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the federal government let every public school student eat for free, rapidly transforming the nation’s thinking around school meals.
Eight states have passed their own universal free meal legislation since the federal largesse ended in 2022. Dozens more have introduced similar bills or have one in the works. A surge of additional schools — nearly 7,000 — have signed up for the community eligibility program that West Elementary participates in: As of the 2022-23 school year, roughly four in 10 public schools were enrolled.
In total, more than 21 million American children now attend schools that offer free meals to all — a tenfold increase from 2010. “Schools did not want to go back to charging some kids,” said Crystal FitzSimons, the director of child nutrition programs and policy at the nonprofit Food Research and Action Center. “They saw the huge benefits of providing free meals to all students: supporting families, supporting kids, changing the culture of the cafeteria.”
The article explores the benefits of free meal programs:
The benefits of universal free meals are myriad, experts say. Most crucially, more children eat, helping to combat hunger in a country where 17 percent of households with children experience food insecurity. They also eat more healthful food. When students are well fed, they learn better: Some research suggests that schoolwide free meals can improve test scores, attendance and behavior. Such programs also help schools, by lessening paperwork, and parents, by reducing food expenses.
Like most people, Amanda Denny, a fourth-grade teacher at West Elementary, had never heard of the C.E.P. But she has seen the difference that universal school meals can make. “In my classroom, when those kids do eat breakfast, they are ready to start their day,” she said. “Their brains are fired up, and they’re ready to learn.”
Ms. Shain asked parents and children at West Elementary in Butte, Mont., what they think about the new lunch policy:
Ryder is a third grader who wants to be a YouTuber or a police officer when he grows up (and, he said, “if that doesn’t work out, NASA”). He was shocked to learn that children at other schools have to pay for lunch. “That’s mean,” he said. His friend Louis agreed: “That is cold.”
Things were different for Kaylee Rabson, a fifth-generation Butte resident whose son attends West. “When we were younger, it was definitely very separated,” she said. “Like, if you went to hot lunch, you were kind of embarrassed.” Now, all her son’s friends eat the school lunch — at least when pizza or walking tacos (ground beef, veggies and cheese in a Doritos bag) are on the menu.
“It’s ‘I eat hot lunch because it sounds good, not because I need to.’ It really has erased the stigma,” Ms. Rabson said. “They’re just there having lunch together.”
My students, read the entire article and then tell me :
Should school meals be offered free to all children, regardless of income? Why or why not?
What do you see as the benefits of universal school meal programs? What do you see as downsides?
Free school lunches have become a campaign issue for this presidential election. In your opinion, how important is this issue? Is it something you want to hear local, state or national candidates speak about more, either for or against? Why?
Do you eat, or have you ever eaten, school cafeteria food? Do most students at your school eat it? Is it free? Is there any sort of stigma if a student eats cafeteria food at your school?
Do you like the food your cafeteria serves? Why? What ideas do you have to improve school meals? If menus were created by students, what do you think would change and why?
Here are my personal thoughts on this topic: Children need to eat regardless of financial class. We talk about nutritional benefits that come from school lunches, but none of that matters if not affordable. Although families may be more financially successful --some families are not as financially stable-- Beyond that, I believe that schools shouldn’t be expecting the “rich families” to pay for lunch, as well as expecting “poor families” to go without lunch because they can’t afford it. It shouldn’t matter if you are considered a poor, middle, or rich class. In addition, you are recommended 3 meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So it’s important that children get 3 balanced meals. In order to grow well and for overall health. As a high schooler, I had days when I didn’t get lunch. Without food fueling my body, I felt tired, unconcentrated, and hungry. The article “Should All Schools Provide Free Lunch?” Kurt Marthaller, oversaw school food programs. Facing lunchtime challenges that included non-affordable lunch and debts. Once they served free lunches, many benefits took place: hunger relief, healthy food for kids, reduced expenses, and improved test scores and behaviors. Lastly, parents should feel relieved and happy that their kids can get lunch every day without worry or guilt. In fact, that's how it should be for all families, lunch should be one of the last things families have to worry about.
Imagine you’re a parent and one day you check your email and find out that you owe your child's school $70,000 just because your child got lunch from the cafeteria. Parents all over the country face similar situations to this one, however there is a solution, if free lunches were provided for all students at schools it would eliminate the stress that paying all that extra money would give parents. Above all else, having free lunches would remove a major cause of stress for parents regarding personal finances. However some people may be hesitant to their idea because they believe that not having parents pay for food would give schools a financial burden, but in reality schools actually also want school lunches to be free. Crystal FitzSimons-the director of child nutrition programs and policy at the nonprofit Food Research and Action Center- stated that “Schools did not want to go back to charging some kids, they saw the huge benefits of providing free meals to all students: supporting families, supporting kids, changing the culture of the cafeteria.” In conclusion, free lunches are something that both schools and families want to be a permanent part of the school system.
“To pay or not to pay, that is the question!” Should lunches be free for everyone or should they go back to charging kids, well the rich kids, anyway? I feel that school meals should be free for everyone. However, some people think “That’s not being respectful to taxpayers, nor is it advancing the idea that we should improve a very wasteful school lunch program.” Be that as it may, I stand firm in my position that school meals should be free for everyone. When the families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for the free lunches, there are so many families that don’t. The reasons range from language barriers to feelings of embarrassment over their financial situations. When all the meals are free, there is no distinction between those who can and can't afford it –doing away with the “hot lunch” stigma–. I don’t see the stigma problem personally, because all meals are free for every kid in my school district. However, there are so many families living near or under the poverty line right now, we can't afford not to feed them for free. Yes, some of families can afford to buy their kids meals, but overall, the benefits of having free meals outweigh any damage that not charging the kids for meals does. Beyond that, we can’t feed their minds unless we feed their bellies first.
In my opinion, schools should give out free lunches to all students. I believe this because not everybody can afford to pay for their lunches and eating lunch is necessary for students to be able to grow and learn properly. Firstly, a good lunch provides fuel for students throughout the day to continue learning and be sharp-minded while without it, they would be distracted by their hunger and therefore less effective at learning. Secondly, not eating three meals a day affects young kids permanently because nutritional deficiencies can cause impairment in cognitive function and can cause impairment in development and growth. In other words, not eating enough can impact kids, who are still developing, negatively both physically and mentally, sometimes causing mental health issues. However, many families are not able to buy lunches for their kids everyday, making this a major problem! On the bright side though, many schools have already been implementing this, showing how it can be done. If it can be done by some schools, we should push to get it done by all schools.
I believe that all schools should provide free lunch to students, regardless of family income. Allowing students to eat lunch, or even breakfast for free can help improve their academic performance during class and alleviate the financial stress of families who cannot afford to pay for their child's lunch. In addition, providing free meals in school can help encourage students to eat better. A student may be in a position where they are stressed out from their schoolwork or other personal matters at home, causing them to feel that they don't have the time to eat or make food for themselves on school days. Providing free meals at school may encourage kids to take care of themselves more and eat healthy food.
As a student I think schools should pay for lunch because parents have huge bills from just lunch alone and some parents can’t afford it at all. Also the parents spend a lot of money on making their kids lunch instead of being able to spend that money on: getting them things,taking them places, and making memories with them. I know from experience that when kids bring their own lunch it costs a lot of money from the parents and they run out of food quicker in their home, especially when they have more than three kids. According to How Free School Meals Went Mainstream, people spend about $250 per month on lunch and breakfast food, and it has probably gone up since then. Therefore I think school lunches should be free for everybody so it won’t be a problem for students and parents.
Free school meals should continue to be served to all students across the nation, because there are many (perhaps more than we realize) who rely on it, for both their physical and mental health. For example, Ms. FitzSimons, of the Food Research and Action Center, says that food is just as important to education as transportation and books, two aids that are often given to students for free. This expert opinion illustrates the logic behind the free cost of school meals and its benefits. Furthermore, Amanda Denny, a fourth-grade teacher in Butte, Montana, claims school meals make an observable difference in the classroom, stating their brains are “fired up and ready to learn.” This personal experience amplifies the impact that school meals can have on the attentiveness and learning capabilities of students.
In my opinion, school meals should be offered free to everyone, no matter the income or anything. I think if the schools gives lunches for free to just a certain group some people could say it’s unfair and be mad. If students are abusing the system then I think the school should make a system where anyone can sign up for school lunch, but they have to have certain circumstances. School lunches and food is very important: it helps growth, school work, focus, and energy. This is why I feel the importance of having a free healthy school lunch for everyone not just people of low income.
School meals should be offered to all children without question. The article states that when school meals were only free to the children of low income, they would feel “embarrassed” getting the school lunch. Also, my highschool has allowed everyone to get free lunch because it would take too long to background check every student every day to make sure they qualify for free lunch. Since the majority of my school is low-income, there are too many students to keep records of. By changing the rule so that everyone can get free lunch, it not only breaks the segregation of only the low-income students standing in the line, but it also keeps the lunch line more efficient when handing out lunch. By not checking every student when they stand in line for lunch, it lessens the workload on the lunch staff and promotes equality among students as they are all given the choice of getting the same lunch.
I believe that school meals should be offered for free to all children regardless of income. Even if a child comes from a stable income home, the child could come from an unsafe environment where they don't have access to food. Furthermore, all students should to be able to afford a healthy dinner without any concerns. Many children may come from low-income homes who aren't eligible for free or reduced school lunches. Everyone receiving free meals would help eliminate embarrassment that certain students may have about receiving free lunches.
Free school lunches would be a great thing for every student and educator because it helps children in both an academic and health oriented sense. According to a study from the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, titled “Child Care Feeding Programs Associated With Food Security and Health for Young Children From Families With Low Incomes”, children who received free meals from schools ”had lower adjusted odds of living in a food-insecure household (adjusted odds ratio 0.70, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.88), being in fair or poor health (adjusted odds ratio 0.61, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.81), or hospital admission from the emergency department (adjusted odds ratio 0.59, 95% CI 0.41 to 0.83), with no differences in growth or developmental risk.” Another study titled “Let Them Eat Lunch: The Impact of Universal Free Meals on Student Performance” from the Center of Policy Research at The Maxwell School says their findings ”point to a positive effect of UFM [Universal Free Meals] on the test scores of middle school students – both poor and non-poor – with the largest increases for non-poor students. We find UFM increases participation in school lunch, and the increases in participation induced by UFM improve student performance on both ELA and math exams -- again, for both poor and non-poor.” These studies clearly illustrate the health and academic benefit for both richer and poorer students associated with providing school meals for free to every student.
I think school meals should be offered free to all children, no matter their income, because every student deserves to have a good meal without worrying about whether they can afford it. A lot of kids may come from families that don’t qualify for free or reduced lunch but still struggle with money. If meals were free for everyone, it would help take away any embarrassment or stigma that some students feel about getting free lunch. Plus, when kids are hungry, they can’t focus on learning, so making sure everyone is fed would help students do better in school. It’s also easier to manage if everyone gets the same thing, instead of dividing kids by how much money their family makes.
In my opinion, schools should give out free lunches to all students. I believe this because not everybody can afford to pay for their lunches and eating lunch is necessary for students to be able to grow and learn properly. Firstly, a good lunch provides fuel for students throughout the day to continue learning and be sharp-minded while without it, they would be distracted by their hunger and therefore less effective at learning. Secondly, not eating three meals a day affects young kids permanently because nutritional deficiencies can cause impairment in cognitive function and can cause impairment in development and growth. In other words, not eating enough can impact kids, who are still developing, negatively both physically and mentally, sometimes causing mental health issues. However, many families are not able to buy lunches for their kids everyday, making this a major problem! On the bright side though, many schools have already been implementing this, showing how it can be done. If it can be done by some schools, we should push to get it done by all schools.
I think all schools should serve free meals to students. We go to public school, where most of our supplies are provided for us, and where we spend a good part of our day. I think that if we're going to be at school for 7 hours then they should offer us a meal in that time. I've never had to pay for meals at my school, but when my sister was going to school some of her peers would. Now the entire district has free lunches. I definitely think that it helps. Many kids don't have enough food at home, and I think school is a great place to provide this for them. It energizes you and gets you ready for the day. I don't think anyone should be shamed for not having money for the school lunch, or for getting the free option. Food is food, and if you're hungry you should be able to eat what is provided for you.
Yes, all schools should provide school lunch because it ensures that every students has at least one nutritious meal a day. Not everyone has access to food at home, so free lunch should always be there as an option. Hunger can impact a student’s ability to concentrate and preform well academically—no child should be worrying about where their next meal is coming from while trying to focus on school. Also, students are in school for about 7 hours each day, if we are fed well, it is proven that kids are more likely to focus better. Free lunches could also help out families. For some people, it may be difficult to be able to give or send their child money, but having to worry if your child is able to eat is even more difficult.
More than 95,000 schools serve free lunches to 21 million students each day, and there are calls to expand that. Should all public schools offer free lunch for children?
After all, free school meals can ease hunger and lead to better performance in class. They can also prevent “lunch shaming,” a term that has been used to describe what happens to families with unpaid school-meal debt. On the other hand, universal school food increases government costs, and some question why the state should be paying for the children of wealthier families to eat free.
In “How Free School Meals Went Mainstream,” Susan Shain writes about the increase in the number of American children who attend schools that offer free meals regardless of family income:
Kurt Marthaller, who oversees school food programs in Butte, Mont., faces many cafeteria-related challenges: children skipping the lunch line because they fear being judged, parents fuming about surprise bills they can’t afford, unpaid meal debts of $70,000 districtwide.
But at nearly half of Mr. Marthaller’s schools, these concerns have vanished. At those schools, all students get free breakfast and lunch, regardless of their family’s income. At one school, West Elementary, children grab milk cartons, cereal bars and bananas from folding tables on their way to class, with almost 80 percent of students eating breakfast there each school day.
“We’ve done a lot of good things to feed kids here in Butte,” Mr. Marthaller said. But introducing universal free meals, he added, was “probably the best thing we ever did.”
Advocates for free school meals have pushed for them to be offered to every student for a long time, but saw significant progress in the last decade and a half. Their first big win came quietly, in 2010, when Congress passed an under-the-radar policy called the community eligibility provision, which made it easier for schools to serve free meals to all. Then, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the federal government let every public school student eat for free, rapidly transforming the nation’s thinking around school meals.
Eight states have passed their own universal free meal legislation since the federal largesse ended in 2022. Dozens more have introduced similar bills or have one in the works. A surge of additional schools — nearly 7,000 — have signed up for the community eligibility program that West Elementary participates in: As of the 2022-23 school year, roughly four in 10 public schools were enrolled.
In total, more than 21 million American children now attend schools that offer free meals to all — a tenfold increase from 2010. “Schools did not want to go back to charging some kids,” said Crystal FitzSimons, the director of child nutrition programs and policy at the nonprofit Food Research and Action Center. “They saw the huge benefits of providing free meals to all students: supporting families, supporting kids, changing the culture of the cafeteria.”
The article explores the benefits of free meal programs:
The benefits of universal free meals are myriad, experts say. Most crucially, more children eat, helping to combat hunger in a country where 17 percent of households with children experience food insecurity. They also eat more healthful food. When students are well fed, they learn better: Some research suggests that schoolwide free meals can improve test scores, attendance and behavior. Such programs also help schools, by lessening paperwork, and parents, by reducing food expenses.
Like most people, Amanda Denny, a fourth-grade teacher at West Elementary, had never heard of the C.E.P. But she has seen the difference that universal school meals can make. “In my classroom, when those kids do eat breakfast, they are ready to start their day,” she said. “Their brains are fired up, and they’re ready to learn.”
Ms. Shain asked parents and children at West Elementary in Butte, Mont., what they think about the new lunch policy:
Ryder is a third grader who wants to be a YouTuber or a police officer when he grows up (and, he said, “if that doesn’t work out, NASA”). He was shocked to learn that children at other schools have to pay for lunch. “That’s mean,” he said. His friend Louis agreed: “That is cold.”
Things were different for Kaylee Rabson, a fifth-generation Butte resident whose son attends West. “When we were younger, it was definitely very separated,” she said. “Like, if you went to hot lunch, you were kind of embarrassed.” Now, all her son’s friends eat the school lunch — at least when pizza or walking tacos (ground beef, veggies and cheese in a Doritos bag) are on the menu.
“It’s ‘I eat hot lunch because it sounds good, not because I need to.’ It really has erased the stigma,” Ms. Rabson said. “They’re just there having lunch together.”
My students, read the entire article and then tell me :
Should school meals be offered free to all children, regardless of income? Why or why not?
What do you see as the benefits of universal school meal programs? What do you see as downsides?
Free school lunches have become a campaign issue for this presidential election. In your opinion, how important is this issue? Is it something you want to hear local, state or national candidates speak about more, either for or against? Why?
Do you eat, or have you ever eaten, school cafeteria food? Do most students at your school eat it? Is it free? Is there any sort of stigma if a student eats cafeteria food at your school?
Do you like the food your cafeteria serves? Why? What ideas do you have to improve school meals? If menus were created by students, what do you think would change and why?
Here are my personal thoughts on this topic: Children need to eat regardless of financial class. We talk about nutritional benefits that come from school lunches, but none of that matters if not affordable. Although families may be more financially successful --some families are not as financially stable-- Beyond that, I believe that schools shouldn’t be expecting the “rich families” to pay for lunch, as well as expecting “poor families” to go without lunch because they can’t afford it. It shouldn’t matter if you are considered a poor, middle, or rich class. In addition, you are recommended 3 meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So it’s important that children get 3 balanced meals. In order to grow well and for overall health. As a high schooler, I had days when I didn’t get lunch. Without food fueling my body, I felt tired, unconcentrated, and hungry. The article “Should All Schools Provide Free Lunch?” Kurt Marthaller, oversaw school food programs. Facing lunchtime challenges that included non-affordable lunch and debts. Once they served free lunches, many benefits took place: hunger relief, healthy food for kids, reduced expenses, and improved test scores and behaviors. Lastly, parents should feel relieved and happy that their kids can get lunch every day without worry or guilt. In fact, that's how it should be for all families, lunch should be one of the last things families have to worry about.
Imagine you’re a parent and one day you check your email and find out that you owe your child's school $70,000 just because your child got lunch from the cafeteria. Parents all over the country face similar situations to this one, however there is a solution, if free lunches were provided for all students at schools it would eliminate the stress that paying all that extra money would give parents. Above all else, having free lunches would remove a major cause of stress for parents regarding personal finances. However some people may be hesitant to their idea because they believe that not having parents pay for food would give schools a financial burden, but in reality schools actually also want school lunches to be free. Crystal FitzSimons-the director of child nutrition programs and policy at the nonprofit Food Research and Action Center- stated that “Schools did not want to go back to charging some kids, they saw the huge benefits of providing free meals to all students: supporting families, supporting kids, changing the culture of the cafeteria.” In conclusion, free lunches are something that both schools and families want to be a permanent part of the school system.
“To pay or not to pay, that is the question!” Should lunches be free for everyone or should they go back to charging kids, well the rich kids, anyway? I feel that school meals should be free for everyone. However, some people think “That’s not being respectful to taxpayers, nor is it advancing the idea that we should improve a very wasteful school lunch program.” Be that as it may, I stand firm in my position that school meals should be free for everyone. When the families had to fill out paperwork to qualify for the free lunches, there are so many families that don’t. The reasons range from language barriers to feelings of embarrassment over their financial situations. When all the meals are free, there is no distinction between those who can and can't afford it –doing away with the “hot lunch” stigma–. I don’t see the stigma problem personally, because all meals are free for every kid in my school district. However, there are so many families living near or under the poverty line right now, we can't afford not to feed them for free. Yes, some of families can afford to buy their kids meals, but overall, the benefits of having free meals outweigh any damage that not charging the kids for meals does. Beyond that, we can’t feed their minds unless we feed their bellies first.
In my opinion, schools should give out free lunches to all students. I believe this because not everybody can afford to pay for their lunches and eating lunch is necessary for students to be able to grow and learn properly. Firstly, a good lunch provides fuel for students throughout the day to continue learning and be sharp-minded while without it, they would be distracted by their hunger and therefore less effective at learning. Secondly, not eating three meals a day affects young kids permanently because nutritional deficiencies can cause impairment in cognitive function and can cause impairment in development and growth. In other words, not eating enough can impact kids, who are still developing, negatively both physically and mentally, sometimes causing mental health issues. However, many families are not able to buy lunches for their kids everyday, making this a major problem! On the bright side though, many schools have already been implementing this, showing how it can be done. If it can be done by some schools, we should push to get it done by all schools.
I believe that all schools should provide free lunch to students, regardless of family income. Allowing students to eat lunch, or even breakfast for free can help improve their academic performance during class and alleviate the financial stress of families who cannot afford to pay for their child's lunch. In addition, providing free meals in school can help encourage students to eat better. A student may be in a position where they are stressed out from their schoolwork or other personal matters at home, causing them to feel that they don't have the time to eat or make food for themselves on school days. Providing free meals at school may encourage kids to take care of themselves more and eat healthy food.
As a student I think schools should pay for lunch because parents have huge bills from just lunch alone and some parents can’t afford it at all. Also the parents spend a lot of money on making their kids lunch instead of being able to spend that money on: getting them things,taking them places, and making memories with them. I know from experience that when kids bring their own lunch it costs a lot of money from the parents and they run out of food quicker in their home, especially when they have more than three kids. According to How Free School Meals Went Mainstream, people spend about $250 per month on lunch and breakfast food, and it has probably gone up since then. Therefore I think school lunches should be free for everybody so it won’t be a problem for students and parents.
Free school meals should continue to be served to all students across the nation, because there are many (perhaps more than we realize) who rely on it, for both their physical and mental health. For example, Ms. FitzSimons, of the Food Research and Action Center, says that food is just as important to education as transportation and books, two aids that are often given to students for free. This expert opinion illustrates the logic behind the free cost of school meals and its benefits. Furthermore, Amanda Denny, a fourth-grade teacher in Butte, Montana, claims school meals make an observable difference in the classroom, stating their brains are “fired up and ready to learn.” This personal experience amplifies the impact that school meals can have on the attentiveness and learning capabilities of students.
In my opinion, school meals should be offered free to everyone, no matter the income or anything. I think if the schools gives lunches for free to just a certain group some people could say it’s unfair and be mad. If students are abusing the system then I think the school should make a system where anyone can sign up for school lunch, but they have to have certain circumstances. School lunches and food is very important: it helps growth, school work, focus, and energy. This is why I feel the importance of having a free healthy school lunch for everyone not just people of low income.
School meals should be offered to all children without question. The article states that when school meals were only free to the children of low income, they would feel “embarrassed” getting the school lunch. Also, my highschool has allowed everyone to get free lunch because it would take too long to background check every student every day to make sure they qualify for free lunch. Since the majority of my school is low-income, there are too many students to keep records of. By changing the rule so that everyone can get free lunch, it not only breaks the segregation of only the low-income students standing in the line, but it also keeps the lunch line more efficient when handing out lunch. By not checking every student when they stand in line for lunch, it lessens the workload on the lunch staff and promotes equality among students as they are all given the choice of getting the same lunch.
I believe that school meals should be offered for free to all children regardless of income. Even if a child comes from a stable income home, the child could come from an unsafe environment where they don't have access to food. Furthermore, all students should to be able to afford a healthy dinner without any concerns. Many children may come from low-income homes who aren't eligible for free or reduced school lunches. Everyone receiving free meals would help eliminate embarrassment that certain students may have about receiving free lunches.
Free school lunches would be a great thing for every student and educator because it helps children in both an academic and health oriented sense. According to a study from the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, titled “Child Care Feeding Programs Associated With Food Security and Health for Young Children From Families With Low Incomes”, children who received free meals from schools ”had lower adjusted odds of living in a food-insecure household (adjusted odds ratio 0.70, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.88), being in fair or poor health (adjusted odds ratio 0.61, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.81), or hospital admission from the emergency department (adjusted odds ratio 0.59, 95% CI 0.41 to 0.83), with no differences in growth or developmental risk.” Another study titled “Let Them Eat Lunch: The Impact of Universal Free Meals on Student Performance” from the Center of Policy Research at The Maxwell School says their findings ”point to a positive effect of UFM [Universal Free Meals] on the test scores of middle school students – both poor and non-poor – with the largest increases for non-poor students. We find UFM increases participation in school lunch, and the increases in participation induced by UFM improve student performance on both ELA and math exams -- again, for both poor and non-poor.” These studies clearly illustrate the health and academic benefit for both richer and poorer students associated with providing school meals for free to every student.
I think school meals should be offered free to all children, no matter their income, because every student deserves to have a good meal without worrying about whether they can afford it. A lot of kids may come from families that don’t qualify for free or reduced lunch but still struggle with money. If meals were free for everyone, it would help take away any embarrassment or stigma that some students feel about getting free lunch. Plus, when kids are hungry, they can’t focus on learning, so making sure everyone is fed would help students do better in school. It’s also easier to manage if everyone gets the same thing, instead of dividing kids by how much money their family makes.
In my opinion, schools should give out free lunches to all students. I believe this because not everybody can afford to pay for their lunches and eating lunch is necessary for students to be able to grow and learn properly. Firstly, a good lunch provides fuel for students throughout the day to continue learning and be sharp-minded while without it, they would be distracted by their hunger and therefore less effective at learning. Secondly, not eating three meals a day affects young kids permanently because nutritional deficiencies can cause impairment in cognitive function and can cause impairment in development and growth. In other words, not eating enough can impact kids, who are still developing, negatively both physically and mentally, sometimes causing mental health issues. However, many families are not able to buy lunches for their kids everyday, making this a major problem! On the bright side though, many schools have already been implementing this, showing how it can be done. If it can be done by some schools, we should push to get it done by all schools.
I think all schools should serve free meals to students. We go to public school, where most of our supplies are provided for us, and where we spend a good part of our day. I think that if we're going to be at school for 7 hours then they should offer us a meal in that time. I've never had to pay for meals at my school, but when my sister was going to school some of her peers would. Now the entire district has free lunches. I definitely think that it helps. Many kids don't have enough food at home, and I think school is a great place to provide this for them. It energizes you and gets you ready for the day. I don't think anyone should be shamed for not having money for the school lunch, or for getting the free option. Food is food, and if you're hungry you should be able to eat what is provided for you.
Yes, all schools should provide school lunch because it ensures that every students has at least one nutritious meal a day. Not everyone has access to food at home, so free lunch should always be there as an option. Hunger can impact a student’s ability to concentrate and preform well academically—no child should be worrying about where their next meal is coming from while trying to focus on school. Also, students are in school for about 7 hours each day, if we are fed well, it is proven that kids are more likely to focus better. Free lunches could also help out families. For some people, it may be difficult to be able to give or send their child money, but having to worry if your child is able to eat is even more difficult.
