BUFFALO, N.Y. — Summer break is nearly over and students will soon have to go back to school. As students prepare to return to class, parents are inquiring about changes to the cost of breakfast and lunch at school.
Question:
Will free meals again be offered to all students this year because of the pandemic?
Answer:
True
Our Sources:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture
The New York State Education Department
Registered Dietician Erin Falls
What We Found:
The USDA says schools and daycare facilities can continue to serve free meals through June of next year.
Essentially, schools nationwide are allowed to provide food through USDA's national lunch program "Seamless Summer Operation," which is usually only available during the summer months. But because of COVID concerns, the program was extended to cover the upcoming school year with all students eligible instead of being income-based.
Most dieticians are praising the move.
"Research shows that receiving free or reduced price school lunches reduces food insecurity, obesity rates, as well as poor health," said Registered Dietician Erin Falls. "So we know that all of those three items are huge issues with our nation. And so this really can help with that."
USDA says up to 12 million children live in households where they may not have had enough to eat during the pandemic.
"So school lunch is critical to student health and well being, especially for low income students," Falls said. "It ensures that students have the nutrition they need throughout the day to learn."
In Erie County alone, 54,293 students qualify for free meals at school. With this change all 121,786 will be covered, but there's a catch. States and districts must opt into this program.
New York has done that, opening it up to all schools in the Empire State. But districts also need to sign up.
The state education department says its, "Child Nutrition Program staff are working individually with each school district to ensure they opt into the waiver. "We expect that the vast majority, if not all operators, will opt into the Seamless Summer Option" for the upcoming school year.
So we can VERIFY it's true, free meals will be available to all students this year, as long as their school districts opt in. We should point out - many school leaders still encourage parents to fill out free lunch forms for their kids in case they qualify next year.