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!
Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest school district in the country , offers three free meals a day to TK through 12th grade (breakfast, lunch, and what they call hot supper but is served mid-late afternoon). My first grader and I review the menus for the week on Sunday and he decides which meals he's going to get at school. What a change from when I was in elementary school and had to remember to bring money to buy milk at lunch!
DPS mom, also LOVING the expanded program and enhanced offerings. In a year with many other school-related issues, it has taken a huge thing off my plate.
Here in the NYC Public school district (over 1 million kids!), we have free universal lunch and breakfast. My 8-yr-old likes the food, and I love not having to come up with packed lunches - or worry about sending him with lunch money. Also, since participation in the breakfast program begins at 7:40 am, my husband who usually does school drop-off likes being able to be at work close to 8AM when they have a daily company-wide educational meeting.
My daughter gets breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack at daycare and I LOVE IT. She gets to eat with her buddies, she tries a variety of food, and it saves sooo much mental energy from me. Would be thrilled if this continued through high school.
Yes, this is one of the under the radar services I tell people to look for in daycare. It's a huge time savings, especially when they're little and need food cut up in small pieces etc.
I’m jealous of everyone commenting who has this! I’m in suburban St. Louis and we don’t. I basically refuse to pack lunches so my kids mostly eat the school lunch except on a few occasions. It would save us a lot of money and it would also take away that stigma of being on “free lunch” because of income if everyone just has it. I went back and read the article about the universal snacks and school supplies and I’m obsessed with that idea too. There is so much labor involved in every single family doing all of these things separately.
We had free lunch when we lived in CA it was great! Now that we are in CO it’s not as healthy and my kids (6, 8) both asked to have lunch made. So I’m back at making lunches but they are healthy and I know they eat.
I would love to go back to not making lunches but they either don’t eat or it’s waffles with syrup…
We have the same in Portland and it is wonderful. We live four blocks from school so we do breakfast at home, but the freedom from making and planning for lunch everyday is a gift. And as someone else mentioned, as a bonus it gets my son to try new things.
Free breakfast and lunch RULES! I can’t even imagine how I could make lunch given that I have to have him there by 8:15 and it’s a 20 minute commute via public transit.
My kids rarely ate the free breakfast or lunch when it was provided at school a few years ago--part of the everyone gets free meals of the pandemic era policies. It wasn't appetizing, even compared with the home lunch options of peanut butter on tortilla kinds of things. Eating breakfast cuts into social time before school or morning recess and standing in line cuts into social time at lunch. Also, my kid had the last lunch period and they would often run out of all the options before his class made it through the line. It has to be more than just free for it to be a workable option!
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!
Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest school district in the country , offers three free meals a day to TK through 12th grade (breakfast, lunch, and what they call hot supper but is served mid-late afternoon). My first grader and I review the menus for the week on Sunday and he decides which meals he's going to get at school. What a change from when I was in elementary school and had to remember to bring money to buy milk at lunch!
DPS mom, also LOVING the expanded program and enhanced offerings. In a year with many other school-related issues, it has taken a huge thing off my plate.
Here in the NYC Public school district (over 1 million kids!), we have free universal lunch and breakfast. My 8-yr-old likes the food, and I love not having to come up with packed lunches - or worry about sending him with lunch money. Also, since participation in the breakfast program begins at 7:40 am, my husband who usually does school drop-off likes being able to be at work close to 8AM when they have a daily company-wide educational meeting.
Also a DPS mom and also a huge fan of free lunch! Thank you Black Panthers!
My daughter gets breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack at daycare and I LOVE IT. She gets to eat with her buddies, she tries a variety of food, and it saves sooo much mental energy from me. Would be thrilled if this continued through high school.
Yes, this is one of the under the radar services I tell people to look for in daycare. It's a huge time savings, especially when they're little and need food cut up in small pieces etc.
I’m jealous of everyone commenting who has this! I’m in suburban St. Louis and we don’t. I basically refuse to pack lunches so my kids mostly eat the school lunch except on a few occasions. It would save us a lot of money and it would also take away that stigma of being on “free lunch” because of income if everyone just has it. I went back and read the article about the universal snacks and school supplies and I’m obsessed with that idea too. There is so much labor involved in every single family doing all of these things separately.
We had free lunch when we lived in CA it was great! Now that we are in CO it’s not as healthy and my kids (6, 8) both asked to have lunch made. So I’m back at making lunches but they are healthy and I know they eat.
I would love to go back to not making lunches but they either don’t eat or it’s waffles with syrup…
We have the same in Portland and it is wonderful. We live four blocks from school so we do breakfast at home, but the freedom from making and planning for lunch everyday is a gift. And as someone else mentioned, as a bonus it gets my son to try new things.
PS My kid definitely tries new food at school!
Free breakfast and lunch RULES! I can’t even imagine how I could make lunch given that I have to have him there by 8:15 and it’s a 20 minute commute via public transit.
My kids rarely ate the free breakfast or lunch when it was provided at school a few years ago--part of the everyone gets free meals of the pandemic era policies. It wasn't appetizing, even compared with the home lunch options of peanut butter on tortilla kinds of things. Eating breakfast cuts into social time before school or morning recess and standing in line cuts into social time at lunch. Also, my kid had the last lunch period and they would often run out of all the options before his class made it through the line. It has to be more than just free for it to be a workable option!