"Free lunch for all" coming back to some schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a similar thread when MCPS discontinued universal free lunches. Here is a link to that thread, as well as my thoughts on the subject, which I originally posted on that other thread.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/legacy/posts/list/75/1065889.page

Really? Six pages and nobody’s quoted TANSTAAFL yet? Compared to the rest of my family, I don’t really qualify as a geek. I can’t believe I’m the only one who made this connection.

Seriously, though, I agree with the sentiment “There’s No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.”. While I absolutely agree we need to help those who need help and that no child in our county should go hungry, everything has an opportunity cost. The more we spend on free lunches, the less we can spend on other worthy causes, at least without increasing debt, which will eventually have its own consequences. I am fully capable of paying my children’s lunches. Sometimes they packed a lunch and other times they purchased the school lunch which, however poor the quality, was not terribly expensive to begin with. Moreover, while our family was comfortable, we’re nowhere near the high income end of Montgomery County, much less DCUM. I’m happy for MCPS to provide free lunches to lower income families and to set a higher qualifying income standard to cover more kids. I find it totally unnecessary, wasteful, and practically obscene to give charity to people who don’t need it when it could be used to help those who do.

I agree. There are limited funds.

MCPS should (and does) provide free lunch to those who need it. It’s wasteful to provide free lunch to everyone. And it also lowers the quality of the lunches.

Yup!

But not tho. The universal free breakfast was instituted because it was cheaper to provide it for all students than the pay the administrative costs of sorting out who qualified and distributing it only to them. And students who qualified were also not going to get the breakfast because of the stigma. So by providing it to all, costs were lowered and more kids who needed it got breakfast, which is the goal anyway.

Teaching summer school, the school lunches have been ok actually. I've eaten it every day and it's not gourmet and I could pack a better lunch from home, but for a free meal that I didn't have to make, it's fine. We've had baked chicken nuggets, sliders, grilled cheese, chicken patty, hot ham and cheese, and of course pizza. Again, not anything I'd call delicious, but it's ok. My biggest complaint is that the produce is gross. We've had peaches a bunch of days, but they're hard as a rock. If they were ripe, the kids would eat them.

No. That is not true. It is not cheaper to provide free lunch to every single MCPS student than it is to provide free lunch only to the students who need it.

This thread is about universal free meals in SOME schools now. Basically where there are so many students who qualify, it's cheaper to provide for all the students AT THAT SCHOOL than to sort out who qualifies. Nobody suggested it's cheaper to provide free lunch for "every single MCPS student."

This is accurate. The practice also pre-dates covid by many years.

[Anonymous]

Free lunches are not paid by MCPS, its all federal funding.

[Anonymous]

There is free lunch and there is reduced-fare lunch. No stigma. No one knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is free lunch and there is reduced-fare lunch. No stigma. No one knows.

With pins and cashless there is no stigma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is free lunch and there is reduced-fare lunch. No stigma. No one knows.

With pins and cashless there is no stigma.

the stigma comes when your balance is a little negative and you have to return your tray to get the microwaved "grilled" cheese sandwich or pbj.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is free lunch and there is reduced-fare lunch. No stigma. No one knows.

With pins and cashless there is no stigma.

the stigma comes when your balance is a little negative and you have to return your tray to get the microwaved "grilled" cheese sandwich or pbj.

That never happens in current day MCPS. Never. It’s a non-issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Free lunches are not paid by MCPS, its all federal funding.

What’s the difference? It all comes from taxpayer money. You can I are paying for it either way.

The fact that so much food gets thrown away should be a concern for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Free lunches are not paid by MCPS, its all federal funding.

What’s the difference? It all comes from taxpayer money. You can I are paying for it either way.

The fact that so much food gets thrown away should be a concern for everyone.

I’d rather pay for lunches than a lot of other wasteful spending. The food quality is a different issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Free lunches are not paid by MCPS, its all federal funding.

What’s the difference? It all comes from taxpayer money. You can I are paying for it either way.

The fact that so much food gets thrown away should be a concern for everyone.

I’d rather pay for lunches than a lot of other wasteful spending. The food quality is a different issue.

You are happy paying for food that simply gets thrown away? That sounds like wasteful spending to me. And definitely not environmentally friendly. Or do we not care about all the trash that gets generated by the food that is tossed daily?

I think we should all advocate for less wasteful spending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is free lunch and there is reduced-fare lunch. No stigma. No one knows.

With pins and cashless there is no stigma.

the stigma comes when your balance is a little negative and you have to return your tray to get the microwaved "grilled" cheese sandwich or pbj.

This doesn't happen here and my kids would prefer a grilled cheese or cheese sandwich over most of the selections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Free lunches are not paid by MCPS, its all federal funding.

What’s the difference? It all comes from taxpayer money. You can I are paying for it either way.

The fact that so much food gets thrown away should be a concern for everyone.

I’d rather pay for lunches than a lot of other wasteful spending. The food quality is a different issue.

You are happy paying for food that simply gets thrown away? That sounds like wasteful spending to me. And definitely not environmentally friendly. Or do we not care about all the trash that gets generated by the food that is tossed daily?

I think we should all advocate for less wasteful spending.

You think kids don't throw away lunches sent from home too? Yes, higher quality lunches would be much better but that's a different issue from free lunches for all.

[Anonymous]

I hope not. It's such a huge waste of money. The food is disgusting and my kids won't eat it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Free lunches are not paid by MCPS, its all federal funding.

What’s the difference? It all comes from taxpayer money. You can I are paying for it either way.

The fact that so much food gets thrown away should be a concern for everyone.

I’d rather pay for lunches than a lot of other wasteful spending. The food quality is a different issue.

You are happy paying for food that simply gets thrown away? That sounds like wasteful spending to me. And definitely not environmentally friendly. Or do we not care about all the trash that gets generated by the food that is tossed daily?

I think we should all advocate for less wasteful spending.

You think kids don't throw away lunches sent from home too? Yes, higher quality lunches would be much better but that's a different issue from free lunches for all.

If a kid is throwing away their lunch from home, then hopefully the parent realizes it and can make adjustments so that less food gets thrown away on a daily basis.

What is happening now is we have tons of food simply being thrown a way on a regular basis. And taxpayers are paying for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Free lunches are not paid by MCPS, its all federal funding.

What’s the difference? It all comes from taxpayer money. You can I are paying for it either way.

The fact that so much food gets thrown away should be a concern for everyone.

I’d rather pay for lunches than a lot of other wasteful spending. The food quality is a different issue.

You are happy paying for food that simply gets thrown away? That sounds like wasteful spending to me. And definitely not environmentally friendly. Or do we not care about all the trash that gets generated by the food that is tossed daily?

I think we should all advocate for less wasteful spending.

You think kids don't throw away lunches sent from home too? Yes, higher quality lunches would be much better but that's a different issue from free lunches for all.

If a kid is throwing away their lunch from home, then hopefully the parent realizes it and can make adjustments so that less food gets thrown away on a daily basis.

What is happening now is we have tons of food simply being thrown a way on a regular basis. And taxpayers are paying for it.

You realize parents also buy/pay for lunch. I am not concerned at all being a tax payer and paying for kids lunches. Of all the things to pay for, feeding kids should be a top priority.

You are talking about a separate issue which is food quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is free lunch and there is reduced-fare lunch. No stigma. No one knows.

With pins and cashless there is no stigma.

the stigma comes when your balance is a little negative and you have to return your tray to get the microwaved "grilled" cheese sandwich or pbj.

That never happens in current day MCPS. Never. It’s a non-issue.

When did it stop?