USDA announces free lunches for all students through 2021-22 school year.

[soothsayer]

Link to tweet

?s=21

ti
@salaam
·
Apr 20, 2021
BREAKING: USDA announces free lunches for all students through 2021-22 school year.

Salaam Bhatti
@salaam
Source:

USDA extends universal free lunch through next school year, bringing relief to millions of food-i...
washingtonpost.com
https://t.co/3A3JX1ETGx

[cinematicdiversions]

1. This is how it should be.

If you are forcing a child to go to school for eight hours a day you certainly should be responsible to feed said child under your care.

[LakeArenal]

3. Yep. I think all Americans should have access to a free lunch

It can be as little as a cheese sandwich and an apple and a glass of milk. But it should be.

[a kennedy]

2. OMGAWD......this is wonderful, and damn right bout time, but shoot this is just great.

[Nevilledog]

4. K & R

[Cairycat]

5. I'm a lunch lady and I'm so glad for this

It's been so nice this year to just serve the kids food and not ever hassle about the cost.

[Niagara]

9. I'm a former lunch lady.

It was horrifying having to deny a child breakfast or lunch if their lunch account was in the negative. It was more horrifying when a child was previously in the red, got approved for free breakfast/lunch and their account still showed in the -$60 negative so I still denied them a meal. No one had told me that each regular, discounted or free meals rang up on the computer as a specific letter.

[Luciferous]

36. I was also a lunch lady until last month, and it

was so nice not to have to embarrass kids by taking their lunches. We always offered them a cheese sandwich with baby carrots and a milk, so they didn't have to go hungry but I still hated having to do it. Kids should get free lunches at school all the time.

[panader0]

6. Thanks Joe.

'This is a big fuckin deal'.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. Good.

I recall reading something a few years back about school lunches. Apparently, when schools first started preparing lunches for kids, everyone was fed.

When I was in fifth grade, some 60 years ago now, the father of one of my classmates killed himself. There were five kids in the family, and I think the one in my classroom might have been the oldest. The family was on the financial edge, which I believe was why the dad killed himself, and a few days after the death my teacher held a sort of classroom meeting and laid it out to us what the financial realities were, and asked that we collectively contribute enough money to buy our classmate a meal ticket for the rest of the year. None of us had a whole lot more, but each one giving ten cents or so a week was more than enough.

While I'm glad we did that, I also feel that no one should depend on that sort of charity.

[WA-03 Democrat]

8. Thank You

So many are food insecure and need this.

[Niagara]

10. KnR

We need more of this!

[Evolve Dammit]

11. Richest country in the world and some on the right will be upset with this. Too f'in bad. nt

[llmart]

17. +1000

We sure do love to tout that old "richest country in the world" descriptive, but instead of taking care of our citizens the GOP would much rather spend trillions on fighting two unnecessary wars (I'm looking at you, Dubya).

We need to get our priorities straight in this country. This is a step in the right direction. I'm just loving this new administration so much and it's only been three months.

[Evolve Dammit]

18. well said.

[tclambert]

12. Well, this sounds like something we should make permanent.

NOBODY should go hungry in the richest nation on Earth.

[crickets]

25. +1000

[Demovictory9]

13. wow

[dsc]

14. My school has had free lunch for all students for the past 4 or 5 years

and it is a blessing on many levels. I sold prom tickets a couple of years ago and it was the first time that there were no lunch debts that needed cleared. Some kids would owe three figure debts. Worse they would still owe it when it came time to graduate. I know arrangements would wind up being made (I think charities would pay off some senior debts) but it was heartbreaking in any case.

[efhmc]

15. No child should EVER be denied lunch or made to feel ashamed or embarrassed about not being able to

pay.

[dsc]

23. we weren't denying lunch

but we were having them run up huge debts. So by the time prom and graduation came up we had some people owing huge sums.

[efhmc]

27. I am happy these children were able to get lunch. I was talking about putting a burden/onus

on a child who obviously did not have the money to pay for his/her lunch and having that burden follow them around.

[Politicub]

16. No child should ever worry about getting a good lunch.

And this will end the obscene, regressive idea of lunch debt.

[Evolve Dammit]

19. forcing children to get a "reduced lunch" if their parents are in arrears; aka "shame lunch." WTF??

[Politicub]

22. It takes a depraved person to put a system in place that punishes

the poor by withholding food or giving them scraps. I’m glad the rug will be pulled from under the disgusting people who perpetuated the old system.

[LudwigPastorius]

20. Wow! The next thing you know, we'll all be...

eating jam with cheese, obsessing over Eurovision, and feeling all hyyge like those Socialist Scandinavians.


(This is great...and long overdue.)

[Jay25]

21. Great news!

[BobTheSubgenius]

24. Typically, I prefter programs like this be means-tested.

I don't care for the idea of subsidizing people who don't need any help, but in this case, I would rather that than singling out kids whose families might need some.

[hunter]

31. Our children attended schools where most of the children qualified for free lunches.

It wasn't worth accounting for the children who didn't qualify for a free lunch so everyone got a free lunch. There was no way to pay.

Our schools also serve anyone seventeen years old or younger when school is out, and this has continued during the pandemic, with long lines of people waiting in groups six feet apart to pick up meals.

I think this is an excellent use of my tax dollars, especially in a nation where employers don't pay a comfortable living wage.

It was also pretty convenient when our children forgot to bring their own lunches.

[BobTheSubgenius]

32. While I applaud your school(s) or school district, it's surprising to me that so many would qualify.

Perhaps the bar is not that difficult to clear, so to speak?

[hunter]

33. The major industry here is agriculture. Rents are high.

Typically the children who qualify for lunches have parents who are agricultural and service workers. Most of their income goes to rent and transportation.

A lot of their work is seasonal as well.

[BobTheSubgenius]

35. That makes sense.

Those circumstances don't exist everywhere, and certainly not here. There are lots of people in service industry, though, and that has to be a struggle. I know it's a struggle. A 1BR commands about $1600, and you can only stretch $15 an hour so far.

I can see where not paying for school lunches would be a godsend.

[Cha]

26. Rt TY Dem Gov!!

[RegularJam]

28. This is important.

On its real world impact and its vision.

[littlemissmartypants]

29. ...

❤

[mopinko]

30. as the mom of kids who never needed a free lunch,

THIS IS FANTASTIC.

my kids were such easy targets because they had to bring a pocket full of change every day.
it made them stand put from the 90% of the kids on free lunch.
and i always felt bad for the teachers who had to count those nickels and dimes.

it's handled differently these days, but why the fuck put a mark on a kid as having more money than most of the kids? i didnt want that for my kids. that's why i sent them to public schools.

[Red Mountain]

34. Right on so many levels

They might not be great......but the shared experience is fundamental to building a cohesive society.

All for one.....