The Boston Public School system is now participating in a federal program that allows each student to get free breakfast and lunch every school day.
This is a great program, and we’re glad to hear it will be available nationwide starting in the 2014-15 school year. The program, part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, is called the Community Eligibility Option and is available to schools in which more than 40 percent of the students are getting food stamps or aid through certain other federal assistance programs, according to the Associated Press.
Currently, schools in 10 states are participating in the U.S. Department of Agriculture program, including Washington D.C. and Atlanta.
This program could be beneficial to cities and towns in Maine that qualify, and we hope school officials will be on the lookout for such an opportunity. Cities like Biddeford, Sanford and Portland likely have populations large enough that they may qualify due to the number of residents with schoolchildren on assistance. Providing free breakfast and lunch to all the children in such schools would mean there is no stigma for getting free lunch, and hopefully, more students would partake.
The balanced meals school cafeterias are required to serve ensure students are getting enough nutrients ”“ through protein, vegetables, fruits and grains ”“ to focus in class and be productive. It can be difficult to work if you didn’t get proper meals with proper nutrition, and it’s a fact that millions of children are hungry.
According to Feeding America, a hunger-relief charity, 16.7 million children lived in food insecure households in 2011. Here in Maine, we have seen the evidence of hungry people, from those on the sidewalks who are clearly in need to the children quietly accepting a backpack of food from organizations like Rotary to keep them fed over the weekends when they are not in school.
The numbers of hungry children are likely more than reported, which is why it’s important that the Community Eligibility Option spread to the many schools and students in need. It may even offer savings to schools.
In Boston, administrators said it eliminated the expense and time of handling paperwork for students who qualify for reduced or free meals; the cost for couriers to drop off and pick up applications for reduced or free meals; and they may be able to cancel the armored car pickups of cafeteria money.
We’re pleased to see federal dollars going where they are needed most ”“ in these kinds of programs ”“ and hopefully it will reach the many more students who are struggling with hunger.
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Today’s editorial was written by City Editor Robyn Burnham on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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