Nearly 50,000 North Dakota children were served by hunger-relief groups last year. Their advocates hope that compels lawmakers to make sure all students have access to meals at school.

The Legislature is considering bills that would expand eligibility for free meals, while also keeping schools from denying a lunch over unpaid debts.

Heather Gades is the 2023 Miss Bonanzaville and a former North Dakota student, who was told she couldn't participate in her school's graduation unless her family paid off a $700 lunch debt.

While they resolved the situation, Gades said she tells her story so that other students won't have the same experience.

"We should not be threatening students with having one of the biggest accomplishments taken away from them," said Gades, "because of socioeconomic status and things outside their control."

One bill would end that type of practice. A separate measure would have provided $89 million to offer free lunches to all students, regardless of income.

But cost concerns pushed Republicans to reduce the extra aid to $6 million. Hunger-fighting groups want lawmakers to reconsider, arguing that full access ensures each child has the opportunity to learn without hunger distractions.

Fargo School Board member Robin Nelson said the extra aid is still welcome, noting it means an extra 10,000 students would be eligible for no-cost meals.

But she said a full expansion would help in a variety of ways that go beyond improved learning. She described it as a long-term investment in making the state competitive.

"If we had universal lunch, not only would that be good for the kids, it would be good for families," said Nelson. "And quite frankly, I think it would attract a lot of young families to our state, or keep them here."

Supporters say such a move would also reduce administrative burdens for school districts. The extra aid would be tacked onto the federal subsidies districts receive to offer free and reduced-price meals.

Groups, including the North Dakota AFL-CIO, have testified in support of these measures, both of which have cleared the House and now move to the Senate.

School nutrition providers told Ohio lawmakers this week they're tired of hounding parents for school lunch money when their child's account accrues debt.

Each week, said Daryn Guarino, director of food and nutrition at the Alexander Local School District, he reminds around 250 families that have begun to accumulate lunch debt. That's more than one-third of the school's population.

"I'm not trying to be a debt collector," he said. "I need to not hit the hard stop, because at that point, I'm going to have to look at this child and tell them they can't eat today. And it's heartwrenching to see it. And it's even worse to know that it's coming."

According to the group Hunger Free Schools Ohio, it would cost the state less than $2 per child per day to provide free meals to all students in the state. One in six children - and as many as one in four in some counties - live in households that face hunger.

COVID-era federal policies provided universal free meals to kids. Guarino said the end of those polices, combined with inflation and rising living costs, have forced more families to leave their kids' school lunch accounts in the red.

"It causes so much stress among our staff that, a lot of the times, they'll start reaching into their own pockets," he said.

The Children's Defense Fund reported that school lunch debt has more than doubled this year from pre-pandemic levels.

Better health and educational outcomes are being touted as Arkansans recognize March as School Breakfast Month.

Research has proven providing students breakfast at school can lead to better attendance, fewer trips to the school nurse, and improved classroom attention and behavior. One in five children faces hunger in Arkansas.

Patti Barker, campaign director for the No Kid Hungry Campaign at the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, said breakfast is still the most important meal of the day, especially for at-risk students. Barker noted the alliance has partnered for a decade with other advocacy groups who want to improve options for kids.

"Our goal is to make sure kids have access to the good nutrition they need every day all year round, whether they're in school or out of school or at home," Barker explained. "The best way to access that good nutrition at school is to make sure those kids or eating both school breakfast and lunch. "

Barker pointed out the USDA's School Breakfast Program also plays a role in ensuring all Arkansas students are healthy, active, and ready to learn every day, helping them thrive.

Vivian Nicholson, breakfast program director for the No Kid Hungry Campaign is encouraging school districts to sign up for the "DIG IN-to School Breakfast" challenge, which includes increasing kids' participation in school breakfast and creating the most innovative breakfast promotion using social media.

"[A] third category is new innovative breakfast items, new items that engage kids to come and eat breakfast," Nicholson outlined. "We use examples of smoothies or yogurt parfait, Apple nachos, and sliced apples with yogurt and granola on top."

Nicholson added they will collect recipes and participating school districts will have a chance to win prizes ranging from $500 to $1,500. She added there are also grants programs in place to provide breakfast throughout the school day to kids who need it, not just in the cafeteria before the bell rings.


get more stories like this via email

Preliminary data shows schools are serving fewer meals than they did last year, largely due to the end of nationwide pandemic-era waivers which allowed schools to serve meals at no cost to all children. According to a recent report, Kentucky saw a 34% increase in lunch participation and a nearly 3% increase in the number of kids who ate breakfast at school over the past few years.

Clarissa Hayes, Deputy Director for School and Out-of-School Time Programs at the Food Research & Action Center, said the gap between Kentucky kids receiving breakfast and lunch now appears to be widening as kids and families go back to the tiered eligibility system used to determine who qualifies for free school meals.

"For Kentucky, what we saw is that for the breakfast-to-lunch comparison, for every 100 children receiving a lunch, about 65 are receiving a breakfast," Hayes said. "So, that's a little bit lower than the year before where, for every 100 children receiving lunch, 85 are receiving a breakfast."

Research shows regular school meals improve kids' academic performance, mental health and nutritional intake. Federal data from 2019 shows nearly 15-million students ate a school breakfast and nearly 30-million students ate school lunch on a typical day.

There are pathways to ensuring that consistent access to healthy school meals is a reality for all kids, Hayes said.

"Ideally, that would be expanded, expanded on the federal level, but we are seeing many states that are taking it upon themselves to pass legislation to make sure that all kids are getting those meals at no cost," she said.

Some states are stepping up to fill the gap to cover the cost of school meals regardless of kids' eligibility, including California, Maine and Colorado.


get more stories like this via email