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Free breakfeast in schools
CORE MESSAGE
“Today in Massachusetts, 1 in 5 households with children are food insecure, with Black, Latino, and multiracial families disproportionately impacted. Inflation and recent public health crises have shed light on this situation.
However, we know this was always a crisis. Too many people in our state have struggled to meet their most basic of human needs – food – for a long time. And kids have always been one of the groups most impacted.
Since the 1940s, child nutrition programs have been tasked with feeding as many children that are in need as possible while doing so with limited resources. For this reason, federally-reimbursed meals divide children into tiers--some kids pay full price, some kids pay reduced, and some kids receive free meals.
We choose to imagine a new system. One without paperwork to show your income; one without meal debt; one without stigma. One that is equitable. One where the focus is squarely on feeding kids quality schools meals.
Healthy school meals for all is a necessary step toward ending hunger in our state.
WATCH IT IN ACTION
POLLING + Fast Facts
School meals can account for over half of a child’s daily calories.
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These are children who might not otherwise have reliable access to healthy food at home. But right now, too many children who could benefit from school meals aren’t eating them. While there are many reasons for this, two of the biggest barriers that stop children from participating in school meals are the cost of purchasing meals and the stigma of being singled out as needing a free or reduced price school meal.
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Words that Work
Universal means universal.
There are families living with food insecurity in every single community in our state. Whether it is a long-term condition or an acute need during a crisis that a family has never experienced before, school meals are a critical resource to a family that is struggling to put food on the table. We don’t require some students to pay for their education at public schools, or books, or visits to the school nurse based on their family’s income – all things, like food, that are critical to education. Why should school meals be any different?
Furthermore, over 1 in 4 food insecure children live in households that do not qualify for free or reduced price meals.
The high cost of living in Massachusetts leaves many families in a precarious state: they earn too much to receive federal assistance from programs such as SNAP, but too little to eat full and healthy diets. Healthy school meals for all would ensure that at least school-aged children can rely on school meals.
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MESSAGING GUIDES
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POLLING
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