Schoolkids in 8 states can now eat free school meals, advocates urge Congress for nationwide policy

ST. PAUL, Minn. — When classes resume after Labor Day, Amber Lightfeather won’t have to worry about where her children’s next meals will be coming from. They’ll be free.

Minnesota, New Mexico, Colorado, Vermont, Michigan, and Massachusetts will make school breakfasts and lunches permanently free to all students starting this academic year, regardless of family income, following in the footsteps of California and Maine. Several other states are considering similar changes and congressional supporters want to extend free meals to all kids nationwide.

Lightfeather, who has four kids who attend public schools in Duluth, Minnesota, said her family has sometimes qualified for free or reduced-price meals but would have had to pay in the upcoming school year if Minnesota had not made the change. Her earnings as a hospital worker and her husband’s as a tribal employee would have put them over the limit. Last year, the family was paying over $260 a month for school meals for all four kids, who are at the hungry ages of 10, 13, 16 and 17.

She felt so strongly that she testified for Minnesota’s school lunch bill when it came before the Legislature last winter. Students hugged Gov. Tim Walz, a former teacher, when he signed it into law at their Minneapolis elementary school in March.

“I was crying when I found out that they finally passed it. I didn’t just go and testify for my own kids. I testified for every kid who could benefit,” Lightfeather said.

Schools nationwide offered free meals to all at the height of the pandemic, which sent participation soaring. But when federal aid ran out in spring 2022, most states reverted to free or discounted meals only for kids who qualified. That left out families that weren’t poor enough, stigmatized those who were, and added to growing school meal debt.

“We know that students learn better when they are well nourished,” said Emily Honer, director of nutrition programs for the Minnesota Department of Education. “And we know that students a lot of time don’t know where their meal is going to come from. We’re taking that (fear) away.”

In New Mexico, where educators and policymakers have long talked about the nexus of poverty and educational outcomes, most students were eligible for free or reduced-price meals even before the new law was signed in March.

Nevertheless, Albuquerque Public Schools saw an immediate increase in participation. And in the first seven days of the school year that started this month, the numbers increased by 1,000 per day for breakfast and lunch.

At Lowell Elementary in Albuquerque, the cafeteria was buzzing Tuesday as dozens of students lined the lunch tables with bright blue trays filled with veggies, rice and teriyaki beef.

Lorraine Martinez, the school secretary, said some children used to suffer stomach cramps or would feel dizzy because they didn’t have enough to eat.

“Now everybody has the food and water and milk — the nutrition — that they need,” she said.

Many families will still struggle to afford school meals in other states. Annette Nielsen, executive director of the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center in New York City, said breakfasts and lunches can cost parents $1,500 per student per year.

“Don’t we want kids to be able to perform well in school and get good, nutritious, healthful meals throughout their learning?” Nielsen asked. “I think it’s the least we can do.”

The Minnesota Legislature allocated over $440 million for first two years of the program despite Republican complaints about subsidizing families that can afford to pay. Honer, of the Minnesota Department of Education, said she was heartened by how many private and charter schools plan to participate.

Stacy Koppen, director of nutrition services for St. Paul Public Schools, said her district can offer universal meals at 60 schools this year, up from the 40 that qualified last year for a federal program that makes meals free to all students at schools with high populations from lower-income families.

“You can just come to school and focus on learning,” she said.

The new law is also a boon for Minnetonka in suburban Minneapolis, which is considered affluent. Superintendent David Law said about 8% to 10% of the district’s students qualified for free or reduced-priced lunches before the pandemic, and that plenty of families didn’t qualify but weren’t in a position to spend $20 a week per kid either.

Law said its also a benefit that serving breakfast is now mandatory.