WASHINGTON – There is a new push to make free school lunches in the United States permanent.
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand says the free food has helped bridge a nutritional gap during the pandemic.
She says making universal school meals permanent would benefit families as well as school districts.
“We’ve seen people, children, be made to feel uncomfortable and isolated when their parents haven’t paid the bills,” said Gillibrand. “We’ve also sent that when pandemic EBT and the school lunch program was made universal under COVID, that it streamlined costs for a lot of schools.
Farmers, Gillibrand says, also benefit from the inclusion of locally grown foods.
Right now, free breakfast and lunch are available nationwide through the 2021-2022 school year.
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