Following passage of Minnesota House Bill HF5 funding free universal meals, the State will serve an additional one million school lunches and breakfasts per month compared to January 2022. The editorial last week commented on the summer EBT program that provided an allowance of $40 per child over the three-month summer recess.  In addition, states offering or planning free or subsidized meals were mentioned.

Governor Tim Walz (D) noted, “In Minnesota we’re not splitting students into the have’s and have-not’s, we are feeding all our children and saving hard-working families thousands of dollars a year on our way to making Minnesota the best state to grow up in.”

The School Nutrition Association revealed that 87.4 percent of respondents to a recent survey in nine states reported an increase in school meal participation after free meal service was initiated.

School feeding is beneficial to all students since programs provide balanced nutrition.  Children from low-income households will benefit most through school feeding since they will be able to more adequately learn in the absence of hunger.   This in turn, will contribute to their future socio-economic advancement making them responsible and productive, members of the community.  School feeding should be regarded as an investment in the future, limiting subsequent expenditure by judicial and health systems.

In a similar approach, the Pennsylvania Department of Education will distribute $1 million to help 30 colleges in the state to alleviate food insecurity.  It is apparent that problems experienced by school children extend into community colleges and universities in the state.  The recipient colleges are members of the Pennsylvania Department of Education Hunger-Free Campus Initiative.  Governor Josh Shapiro commented, “Students of all ages learn best when they start the day with a full stomach and are better prepared to succeed when they have access to nutritious healthy food.”  He added, “This Administration fought for and delivered universal free breakfast in K-12 classrooms and this is why we are fighting against hunger on our college campuses.”  The problem of food insecurity on college campuses became apparent during the COVID period and persists to the present time.

School feeding is beneficial for recipients, administrations and ultimately for food producers including our industry.