Free lunches that started in the pandemic are now ending. This is cause for concern for families who relied on these school lunches because it was a bit of a stress relief knowing where at least one nutritious meal for their kids was coming from daily. But, with supply shortages, inflation, increase in prices of food, and the like, according to WJHL, the loss of the school lunches may have an even bigger impact than ever anticipated.
According to the Deseret News, vouchers from the US Department of Agriculture that have been in place since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 are set to expire at the end of June. This means that any public-school students who were receiving a free lunch during this timeframe will be finding other means for lunch and in some cases, breakfast, at the height of summer vacation.
A spending bill was passed on March 15 that could have included an extension of the food waivers. However, according to EducationWeek, the waivers were not part of the $1.5 trillion spending bill. As such, families who were already struggling to put food on the table may find it even harder still not to have their children's lunch covered by the federal government.
To the publication, California and Maine have found ways to keep school lunches free, despite a lack of federal funding. States like Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, and Minnesota have also passed laws to enact universal free school lunches. However, the implementation of the bills still needs to be done in some states.
Making matters even more confusing, according to WJHL is that there is still the possibility that the federal government will extend the vouchers. But, with the deadline looming, that is not something that school districts can bank on. Especially those school districts that have at-risk populations who rely on school lunches during the school year and throughout the summer to feed students in need.
Things are looking to be incredibly difficult for those families who fall just outside the USDA's Child Nutrition Programs Income Eligibility Guidelines, according to EducationWeek. This is because these families are still not making nearly enough money to ensure that there will always be a healthy meal on the table.
And in the current environment causing families to scale back on the number of groceries they buy so that they can stay within budget, cutting the funding for free school lunches is just another blow to families who suffer from food insecurity.
Whether the vouchers will be extended remains to be seen. But for the states who have yet to enact bills to provide free lunches for school-aged kids, this summer and likely into fall and beyond are going to be a struggle when it comes to adequate nutrition for many students indeed.
Source: WJHL, Deseret News, EducationWeek, Children Nutrition Programs Income Eligibility Guidelines