This Fall, Those Free School Lunches That Helped Families During The Pandemic Won’t Return
The healthiest meal students typically receive during the day isn’t at their dining room table — it’s in their school cafeteria.
That finding from Tufts University researchers is just one reason child nutrition experts have urged Congress to pass legislation that would enable schools nationwide to provide free meals for all students. Pandemic-era waivers that made universal free school lunch a reality the past two years have expired, and this fall, students will once again have to qualify for free, reduced or full-priced meals based on need.
That prospect is raising concerns among child nutrition experts who predict that once the school year begins more kids will go hungry amid an uptick in food insecurity in households with children.
“There are going to be many struggling families next...