Anonymous wrote:When I was in high school my parents couldn’t afford school lunch, but I didn’t qualify for free lunches. So they’d pack a lunch for me….generic chips in sandwich bags, bologna and cheese sandwich, etc. But in high school kids are bullies, and so I was too embarrassed to bring the packed lunch when everyone else was buying. So what happens is I never ate lunch, and I would be STARVING at lunch watching everyone else eat. I would just say I wasn’t hungry when. they asked why I wasn’t eating.

So yes, the free lunch program does help….

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Anonymous wrote:Just send your kids to the schools where everyone gets free lunch.

New poster. I do this. It’s great, and our meals will still be free next year. Bur according to most people on this site I am sacrificing the quality of my children’s education by surrounding them with poor, nonwhite children. And my children will never get any attention in the classroom (not true). Those posters want to have their lunch (or not) and eat it too.

Anonymous wrote:Just send your kids to the schools where everyone gets free lunch.

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Anonymous wrote:Mine goes to one of CEP schools in APS so they will still get free lunch next year.

What is this? Like all kids at some schools will still get free lunch?

Anonymous wrote:Mine goes to one of CEP schools in APS so they will still get free lunch next year.

Anonymous wrote:Middle/UM Class always gets screwed.

I would actually prefer there to be a focus on healthy school breakfast/lunch options. I would pay more if they could offer some healthy whole food or plant based options.

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Anonymous wrote:Why was the free lunch program started? Was it due to the pandemic? If you didn’t lose a job/income during the pandemic, why were you given free lunch?

There has been a push to make it free all the time outside of the pandemic. Why do rich people "need" lunch? Well the more barriers you put in place for the poor people, the less the poor kids actually GET to eat at school. There is solid research that when everyone is treated the same about school food (no paperwork, no special program etc) the needy kids get more food. Hungry kids don't learn well.

So one way to look at it is "why do rich people need free lunch?" and the answer is "it removes free lunch stigma and GREATLY help the kids who can't afford it".

I am furious at Biden for not being able to keep this. And the child tax credit. Poor kids just continue to get dumped on.

Also there are people who aren’t rich and struggling they don’t meet the income limit. So free lunch for everyone helps those people too.

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Anonymous wrote:Why was the free lunch program started? Was it due to the pandemic? If you didn’t lose a job/income during the pandemic, why were you given free lunch?

There has been a push to make it free all the time outside of the pandemic. Why do rich people "need" lunch? Well the more barriers you put in place for the poor people, the less the poor kids actually GET to eat at school. There is solid research that when everyone is treated the same about school food (no paperwork, no special program etc) the needy kids get more food. Hungry kids don't learn well.

So one way to look at it is "why do rich people need free lunch?" and the answer is "it removes free lunch stigma and GREATLY help the kids who can't afford it".

I am furious at Biden for not being able to keep this. And the child tax credit. Poor kids just continue to get dumped on.

Why should you get a tax break for having kids? If it’s so vital to your finances, you should’ve had one less child.

Or one fewer. Lol.

I thought it was determined that it was cheaper to give everyone the free lunch then administer the program to determine and monitor who should and should not get it?

It is.

Yep. Means-testing costs money. We don't do it to save money, we do it to punish poor people.

We punish poor people by giving them free food?

Anonymous wrote:It makes me sick that families that make under $50K cannot get FARMS meals for their children, but families that make up to $300K are going to be eligible for $10K reduction in their student loans.

The free breakfast lunch program costs about $10-11B to run. The student loan forgiveness is going to cost about $321B.

Talk about terrible priorities. The administration and Congress need to start rethinking their priorities and to figure out what helps those who need the most help. And no, I am not in the affected population. We make enough that we do not need the meal program. But I feel for those families who make between median HHI and the qualification for SNAP or WIC (which is the borderline for FARMS). Those people need the help a lot more than a bunch of rich doctors, lawyers and professionals need help paying for loans that they should have been paying for years.

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Anonymous wrote:Why was the free lunch program started? Was it due to the pandemic? If you didn’t lose a job/income during the pandemic, why were you given free lunch?

There has been a push to make it free all the time outside of the pandemic. Why do rich people "need" lunch? Well the more barriers you put in place for the poor people, the less the poor kids actually GET to eat at school. There is solid research that when everyone is treated the same about school food (no paperwork, no special program etc) the needy kids get more food. Hungry kids don't learn well.

So one way to look at it is "why do rich people need free lunch?" and the answer is "it removes free lunch stigma and GREATLY help the kids who can't afford it".

I am furious at Biden for not being able to keep this. And the child tax credit. Poor kids just continue to get dumped on.

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised DCUMers would even let their kids eat lunchroom lunches. I send lunch with lots of fruits and vegetables because school lunches aren't all that healthy.