School Meals: One of Public Health’s Greatest Strategies

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School Meals: One of Public Health's Greatest Strategies

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This week is National School Lunch Week. Let's pause to celebrate the incredible work happening to feed our kids throughout the school year and beyond. First created in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy, National School Lunch Week is an annual celebration of the National School Lunch Program and those who run it.

The National School Lunch Program provides free- or reduced-price lunch to low-income students. Kansas children in households earning less than 130 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) are eligible for free lunches. Those in households earning between 130-185 percent FPL are eligible for reduced-price lunches. For example, children in a family of four are eligible for free meals if their household earns less than $40,560 annually or for reduced-price meals if their household earns between $40,561 to $57,720 annually. To receive these free or reduced-priced meals, families must apply every school year. However, children in families receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits are automatically eligible for free meals at school.

The resilience of the National School Lunch Program speaks to the need it meets. Federally funded school meals began after the Great Depression. The nation was alarmed about rising childhood hunger and malnutrition. Initial funding in the 1930s primarily focused on labor and food costs. This created jobs for thousands of food service workers and a new market for local farmers. However, it wasn't until the National School Lunch Act in 1946 that the National School Lunch Program was created. Even so, funds were not appropriated for the program until 20 years later. In the 1960s, malnutrition once again became a national concern when research documenting the link between hunger and academic and behavioral challenges was published. This led to some of the strongest nutritional requirements of any federal program. By law, school meals must meet the national Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This is to prevent diet-related disease and improve educational outcomes for generations. The National School Lunch Program is one of the longest running, most consistent programs to improve child health and educational outcomes.

Today, child nutrition is still a critical public health need. According to Healthy People 2030, household food insecurity and hunger is a leading health indicator of high priority due to its impact on health across a person's lifespan. However, rates of hunger and food insecurity are rising, including in Kansas. Nearly 1 in 10 Kansas adults with children under age 18 reported that they did not have enough food to eat in June 2024. In 2022, nearly 1 in 5 Kansas kids did not have enough nutritious food to live an active, healthy lifestyle. Childhood nutrition programs are at the frontlines of addressing this need.

Schools run the largest restaurants in the state on some of the lowest margins. During the 2023-2024 school year, half of Kansas students (47.6 percent) received either free (40.6 percent) or reduced-price (7.1 percent) lunches. That's 240,869 Kansas students. Students who are not eligible can buy school lunch at cost, usually between $3-4 per lunch. Reduced-price lunch brings that down to no more than $0.40 per lunch. This program is an incredible resource to families. However, families may not apply due to stigma or they may just miss the income cut-off to qualify. An innovative program called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) was created to address this. Schools participating in CEP can provide free breakfast and lunch to all enrolled students without requiring students to apply. Eligibility for CEP is instead determined by an identified student percentage (ISP) that calculates eligibility based on participation in programs such as SNAP or TANF. Previously, CEP required an ISP rate of at least 40 percent. However, as of October 26, 2023, the ISP requirement was lowered to 25 percent. This meant that of the 1,336 Kansas schools in the 2023-2024 school year, most (85.5 percent) are eligible or potentially eligible for CEP. Schools and districts weigh factors such as their reimbursement and participation rates when choosing to implement CEP. Currently, fewer than 1 in 5 (14.5 percent) eligible Kansas schools participate in CEP. These participating schools provide nutritious meals to more than 57,000 students. They are transforming Kansas public health through every meal served. If all remaining schools eligible or potentially eligible for CEP implemented it, 341,510 more students would receive free meals through the CEP program.

Kids need to eat year-round, not just during the school year. That's why summer meal site coordinators also should be celebrated for their work. The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), or SUN Meals, provides free nutritious meals and snacks to children in low-income areas. Many SFSP sites also coordinate fun activities and enrichment for children who attend. During the summer of 2023, there were 580 SFSP sites covering three-fourths (76.2 percent) of Kansas counties. Since then, two significant policy changes were made to increase access to the program.

With SUN Meals To-Go, rural SFSP sites now can provide meals to-go. Previously, kids had to eat their summer meals on site. However, this created challenges, particularly in rural areas, for children to reach their meal sites. SUN Meals To-Go allowed for pick-up and delivery of meals to any child 18 or younger in areas that qualified. The other large policy change was SUN Bucks or Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT). Summer EBT automatically provided $120 per child in additional grocery benefits for families participating in SNAP, TANF or the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR). These two policy innovations were a result of feedback from summer meal site coordinators around the nation.

Feeding kids is hard work. Please thank your local food service workers. They are doing all they can to nourish the next generations of Kansas leaders. Consider inviting your local Food Service Director to coffee to learn more about the amazing work they do and how you can help to support them. Look for opportunities to learn from and support your local schools. Consider partnering with your school to help explore policy options like CEP.

Strengthening local partnerships, championing and implementing policy change and increasing equitable access to health resources are essential public health services. Please consider how you too can support one of public health's greatest strategies, school meals.

To learn more about who leads this work in your community, search for School Nutrition Program: Contacts at https://datacentral.ksde.org/nutrition_reports.aspx

Want to dig into more research about food and nutrition security in Kansas? Read our 2023 Environmental Scan of Secondary Data (Executive Summary or Full Report) developed for the Hunger Free Kansas stakeholders. To learn more about Hunger Free Kansas, visit hungerfreekansas.org