Arizona opinion: The critical role of free school meals

All Arizona children deserve access to food at school so they can be focused, engaged learners. Food insecurity impacts 10.2% of AZ families comprising 751,690 individuals including more than 225,000 children, The National School Lunch program is an important tool for families to combat food insecurity. During the pandemic, National School Meal waivers allowed all children to eat free meals, keeping children fed and easing financial pressures for families struggling to make ends meet. These waivers ended in 2022. Now, Arizona legislators have the opportunity to build upon the best practices established during the pandemic and expand access to school meals for all children in Arizona. This initiative is not without precedent; eight states have expanded their school meal programs and more than twenty others are actively working towards expansions.

Under the current system, families must complete detailed annual income applications to receive assistance with school meals. This process categorizes students into free, reduced-price, or paid meal groups. This can inadvertently lead to stigma and create barriers to participation, particularly for those in greatest need of meal assistance. Further, the system may not adequately respond to families fluctuating financial situations or those slightly above the income thresholds.

School meals provide children with fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains (all foods lacking in many children’s diets) and the healthiest source of calories for children compared to other food outlets, a critical service in the context of a rising childhood obesity epidemic in the U.S and in Arizona where nearly 20% of all children have obesity. Access to nutritious foods at school impacts weight and contributes to building healthy eating habits and improved school attendance and academic achievement, providing the foundation for improved lifelong economic opportunities.

When all children were eating meals at no cost during the pandemic, parents and school staff reported that school meals played an essential role in creating a sense of community at school, especially important with rising adolescent mental health struggles. Removing the stigma burden students may experience, such as the fear of insufficient funds at mealtime, can ensure that students feel safe and supported in school, and focused on learning.

Legislators can replace the current three-tiered system, which categorizes children by parental income, with one where all children eat without stigma.

Administratively, schools that do not have to prepare, collect, and process income applications from families each year have increased capacity to focus on other education and food programs, like expanding farm-to-school efforts that allow school meal dollars to directly support the state economy by buying Arizona-grown foods.

Arizona legislators have the critical opportunity now to meet their duty to provide a basic need for ALL of our children and ensure that none are left behind.