Massachusetts Adopts Universal Free Meals For All Public School Kids
Massachusetts has joined a growing number of states in passing legislation to grant free meals to all public school kids.
The new program was signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Maura Healey (D) as part of an overdue budget of nearly $56 billion, which also included spending on child care, workforce development, housing, public transit and other areas.
From that budget, approximately $172 million in permanent funding will be put toward free school meals for students in kindergarten through high school.
Rebecca Wood, who has an 11-year-old, told WBZ-TV in Boston that there were times in the past when she wasn’t sure if she could afford school lunch for her kid.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/massachusetts-adopts-universal-free-meals-for-all-public-school-kids_n_64d7b821e4b0ca95058905b9
Blue states will feed kids free. Red states continue to be s-hole states that let kids go hungry.
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I taught K-6 grades in CA and the school lunches are super unhealthy. I took it upon myself to teach my students about nutrition since no one else was, as well as applying it to the school meals. Everything is loaded was fat, salt and sugar. My 1st graders and I reviewed the lunch choices each morning and we went through each item and voted "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" for the "healthy choices". There were very few, even the salad had crap in it and the dressings. I only allowed "healthy snacks" like fresh fruit, veggies, nuts and seeds and told the parents this at Back To School Night. I even would spend 15 minutes of my own 30 minute lunch to monitor what my students chose for lunch (and to say "thank you" to the lunch staff). At report card conferences the parents told me how grateful they were. The crazy thing is that if I had been "caught" by the administration for including this is the "morning routine" I would have been yelled at and I had to "sneak teach it".
I was the union rep for my school and when I attended a school board meeting an item on the agenda was "beverages in school vending machines" and which beverages would be allowed. It turned out to be a Coke vs Pepsi issue and the Coka Cola company was cheaper so they chose that one. When I tried to bring up sugar free drinks and plain old water they dismissed me. 
Check out what school lunches in France consist of.....
https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/this-is-how-french-school-lunches-are-different/
