Tim Walz Says Free Lunch Helps Moms. He’s Right.
Tim Walz Says Free Lunch Helps Moms. He’s Right.
Why I'm obsessed with my school district's new universal breakfast and lunch program.
Today’s newsletter is a positive story and a nice break from the election horserace anxiety I’m sure many of us are feeling. But a week from now, we’ll all have to look ourselves in the mirror and face whether or not we gave what we could to the future of our kids and this country. If you live in or near a swing state, I urge you to take time from now through Election Day to volunteer in person to get out the vote. I will be volunteering this week and on Election Day with Bull City Votes/Durham Drives getting people to the polls, including at low-income senior centers. They are still looking for volunteers, so come join me. Another great initiative in Durham is Durham Delivers. it’s an app that lets you check and see if friends and family have voted yet and urge them to do so. We also must have hard conversations with friends and relatives about what’s at stake in the election. I love this guide on how to do it from
. Also: if you or people in your world are considering not voting for Harris/Walz because of the war in Gaza, I urge you to watch and share this message from Bernie Sanders.This year, when I’m rushing to get my three elementary-age kids out the door, I have one less thing to worry about – making breakfast or packing lunch. This may not seem like a big deal, but when you are a parent in America, the most seemingly banal changes that make your life easier can make your heart sing with joy.
Parents in the US are often left with an “every family for themselves” situation for virtually all childcare and child management details, even when enrolled in public school. A few weeks ago, I wrote about efforts from my kids’ elementary school and PTA to make snacks, teacher gifts, and school supplies universal for families, which is increasing equity across the school and seriously reducing my mental load. Now, I want to talk about another universal program I’m a lil obsessed with: free school breakfast and lunch.
Free universal meals for kids have exploded in popularity in the last 15 years. Eight states have passed laws making breakfast and lunch free for k-12 students statewide, covering tens of millions of children, including Minnesota, which passed its bill under Governor Tim Walz's leadership. I’m getting to experience the program for the first time this school year. Durham Public Schools (DPS) in North Carolina, where my children attend, has made breakfast and lunch free for all students. The school board voted to access a federal funding program called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). Last year, CEP lowered its threshold of what percentage of students need to be low-income to qualify for federal money, so millions more kids are now in school districts that can apply. School districts that don’t qualify for this provision can also choose to make school lunch universal through overall school budget funding.
More comprehensive research is needed to unpack the link between universal programs fully and lessening parental stress, but some policymakers themselves are hearing about the link. Governor Tim Walz told New York Times journalist Ezra Klein about the response he got from parents about Minnesota’s statewide free breakfast and lunch program. He told Klein for his podcast, “The people who gave me the most feedback on this was […. ] especially mothers because of the unequal distribution of domestic labor that still falls heavily upon women. And these women say, ‘We didn't qualify before [for free or reduced lunch], and we do now. It's an absolute tax cut for us, but it's an absolute lifesaver for me that I don't have to get up in the morning and either make breakfast or send lunch to school. So it's a double benefit for us. I have less work, and my kids eat.’ So it was actually middle-class folks who were most jazzed about this.”
You’re right, Tim, I’m a middle-class mom and I’m totally jazzed about this universal program. My school district has also paired these new resources with an overhaul of the whole nutrition program with input from students, parents, and food advocates. Previously, many families who didn’t receive free or reduced lunch opted to pack a lunch because the options were not only heavy on southern fried everything and mystery meat, but they were also just extremely unappetizing, with plenty of kids refusing to eat the food. The increased budget also supports higher-quality food and more diverse menus. There are still days with kid favorites like pizza and nuggets, but every day has vegetarian options and a lot more fruit and vegetables. They have also increased the range of cuisines, like serving Chinese dumplings and Chana Masala. I’m amped about this, as I think my kids are more likely to eat these foods if everyone else around them is eating them. I am thrilled not to think about kids’ breakfast OR lunch five days a week. I also predict this will save us probably $200 a month for nine months a year. This is the equivalent of getting a $1800 tax credit.
Advocacy and a school board vote were needed to get the free breakfast and lunch initiative and the menu overhaul. But I think this is a beautiful example of dedicated people making a big impact in a relatively short amount of time to get universal programs in place at the local level, especially compared to how long it can take to get things done at the state or federal level.
While I hope that in the short term, more school districts will take the federal government up on its CEP funding, I’m also not mad that we might have someone in the White House who sees the link between universal programs and lessening parents' mental load.
Alright, Double Shifters, your turn. What’s been your experience with school lunches, free or otherwise? I’d love to hear your experiences in the comments.
Super cool announcement!
My friend
is launching an amazing initiative called The Sandwich Club. If you haven’t heard of the Sandwich Generation, it’s anyone who cares for both our kids and our aging parents—at the same time. It can be a lot to manage, and that’s where @thesandwichclub.ai comes in.Led by Courtney, their Caregiver-in-Residence, The Sandwich Club has created a space to find resources, share experiences, and support each other through this unique journey. If you’re in the sandwich generation, you’re not alone. 💛
Follow @thesandwichclub.ai and @courtwrites for more tips, advice, stories, and community!
My kids both get free breakfast and lunch at their public schools. I wish the food was more nutritious but saving the time, labor, and money of feeding them breakfast and packing lunches every day was a HUGE game changer for me.
BTW, the free breakfast program is thanks to the Black Panthers, one of so many impactful community-building programs with far-reaching effects. Thank you, Black Panthers!!
Colorado passed a law for universal free breakfast and lunch in public schools. It's great. Honestly my kids ate at school already. When they entered 3rd grade (ish) I told them they could make their own breakfast and lunch or eat at school. My middle schooler chooses to eat breakfast at home and lunch at school while my elementary schooler eats both meals at school. I like that this is an option for everyone regardless of income!