America’s poorest children won’t get nutritious meals with school cafeterias closed due to the coronavirus
Schools aren’t only places where kids learn. They are also places where kids eat.
Thanks to the National School Lunch Program, 30 million U.S. children – some 60% of all school-aged kids – regularly eat some combination of breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks at school. Federal subsidies ensure that school meals are affordable for all children to stave off hunger and malnutrition.
But what is happening to meals provided by the nation’s largest child nutrition program as public schools shut their doors to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic?
Based on my research on how schools provide meals for poor children, I worry that these closures might leave some of the nation’s poorest children without access to nutritious meals.
School meals address hunger
Despite persistent concer...