Renewed Push to End So-Called ‘Lunch Shaming’ Among Students as Kids Head Back to Class

(KNSI) — As students head back to school, there is a new push for a universal school meal program to avoid what is known as “lunch shaming.”

Lunch shaming is when a student doesn’t have enough money in their lunch account, and they are either given a small peanut butter sandwich or, according to Leah Gardner of Hunger Solutions Minnesota, worse. “We have continued to see some practices, such as dumping kids’ lunches in front of all the other students.”

Funding in the omnibus education bill passed this summer prevents schools from throwing a child’s lunch away due to their inability to pay.

The federal government is reimbursing districts for universal free meals, and groups like Hunger Solutions continue to press for the program to continue even after the pandemic is over. One plan, Gardner says, calls on the state to better utilize the money available for high poverty districts to offer free meals to everyone, but some have cited cost concerns when debating the issue.

Districts are also calling on Congress to improve the school funding formula, allowing more schools to qualify for what’s known as the Community Eligibility Provision. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the CEP allows the nation’s highest poverty schools and districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications. Instead, schools that adopt CEP are reimbursed using a formula based on the percentage of students categorically eligible for free meals based on their participation in other specific means-tested programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

Colleen Moriarty, executive director for Hunger Solutions Minnesota, said the eventual goal is lunches for all students, no matter their background. She contended the past year has changed the conversation about food insecurity, and students’ needs, saying if parents and teachers are concerned about kids’ behavior, inability to focus, or absenteeism, “there is no greater way to reinforce the importance of being able and ready to learn than by making sure that people have the nutrition they need.”

According to Feeding America, “Research demonstrates that children from families who are not sure where their next meal may come from are more likely to have lower math scores and repeat a grade, among other challenges.”

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MNC Reporter Mike Coen contributed to this story.

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