Despite being an affluent state, hunger in NJ is still prevalent and is an especially big problem for some schoolchildren. Close to 300,000 children in NJ face hunger and receive most of their nutrition at school, and 540,000 live in families who have difficulty paying their bills. It is well known that children who are hungry cannot concentrate in school and do more poorly academically overall. There is even some evidence to suggest that children who grow up with food insecurity are sicker, suffering from chronic diseases like asthma, as well as mental health issues like depression and anxiety. NJ lawmakers have passed several pieces of legislation to address this issue. One latest proposal is to provide school lunches for all children regardless of their financial situation.
Recently, NJ Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz proposed a resolution on the state Senate Education Committee that Congress make the free meals program available to all students regardless of their family’s income. This would provide free meals to New Jersey’s 1.28 million students. At the present, only those whose families with incomes of 130% below the poverty level would qualify for these free meals.
There have been recent advances in the provision of free meals to NJ students. In September 2022, the Working Class Families’ Anti-Hunger Act was passed, which provides free breakfast and lunch to middle class students.
Free Lunches During the Pandemic
During the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture allowed all students to get free breakfast and lunch regardless of their family’s household income, increased reimbursements to schools, and enabled communities to provide summer meals regardless of the percentage of kids qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. As a result, there were 10 million more students receiving meals. This likely greatly benefited students during this difficult time. Child hunger can have many negative consequences, causing not only impaired academic performance but also long-term poor health and behavioral problems.
Keep Kids Fed Act
On June 25, 2022, President Biden signed the Keep Kids Fed Act, which provides for the continuation of funding and support for communities to provide children healthy meals during the summer and provide support to schools and daycare providers in view of supply chain challenges and high food costs. This legislation was supported by both the Senate and the House.
In New Jersey in 2018-19, about 38% of public school students were eligible for free and reduced-fee meals. It is estimated that there are about 150,000 children in New Jersey who qualified for free meals but did not receive them due to limited access and knowledge of them.
Debate
There are interesting arguments on both sides of the debate. One issue is that there can be shame or embarrassment for those who get free lunches in school. By having universal free lunches, this issue would be eliminated. In doing so, perhaps more children would take advantage of the meals offered in schools and benefit from them.
Another issue that has been raised is the timing of the meals, especially breakfast. In most schools, free breakfast is offered before school starts. This narrows the number of children able to take advantage of these meals if they are unable to get to school early. Solutions to these problems include offering meals during class time, which has been successful in some parts of the nation.
Finally, some critics question whether funding for those who can afford food is the best use of funds. However, I think feeding all NJ schoolkids is money well spent because it will contribute to their success in the future.
Conclusion
Universal free meals in school is something that has been proposed in NJ. Though NJ is an affluent state, there are pockets of poverty where children may not be getting the nutrition they need to succeed. By offering universal free meals in school, greater numbers of children may receive the nutrition they need to succeed in school and beyond.
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