Stop the shame and the hunger: The need for school meal program reform

Gagliano, Katrina M.; Yassa, Monica O.; Winsler, Adam

doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.107245

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 28 publications

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“…Students benefit by not being subjected to school cafeterias becoming a signal of family financial health and by not having school meals being associated with harmful debt-collection processes or penalties that cause stigma (e.g., lunch-shaming, the with-holding of official documents, and denying participation in student activities). Students benefit by having access to school meals, regardless of whether they can pay for them [ 35 , 36 ]. Finally, families can benefit from not having to worry about their child’s school meal program balance (saving them stress and money) and by not engaging with the school’s staff in debt-collection processes [ 6 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Benefits and Challenges of Providing School Meals during the First Year of California’s Universal School Meal Policy as Reported by School Foodservice Professionals

Zuercher,

Orta-Aleman,

Cohen

et al. 2024

Nutrients

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States in the U.S. are newly implementing universal school meal (USM) policies, yet little is known about the facilitators of their success and the challenges they confront. This study evaluated the challenges and facilitators faced by school food authorities (SFAs) implementing California’s universal school meal (USM) policy during its inaugural year (2022–2023) using an online survey. In March 2023, 430 SFAs reported many benefits, including increased meal participation (64.2% of SFAs) and revenues (65.7%), reduced meal debt (41.8%) and stigma (30.9%), and improved meal quality (44.3%) and staff salaries (36.9%). Reported challenges include product/ingredient availability (80.9%), staffing shortages (77.0%), vendor/distributor logistics issues (75.9%), and administrative burden (74.9%). Top facilitators included state funding (78.2%) and increased federal reimbursement (77.2%). SFAs with fewer students eligible for free or reduced-price meals (as opposed to SFAs with more) reported greater increases in meal participation and reductions in stigma but also more administrative burdens. Larger SFAs reported greater increases in revenues, staff salaries, and improvements in meal quality than smaller SFAs but also more challenges. Overall, California’s USM policy has enhanced student access to healthy meals while mitigating social and financial barriers. Understanding California’s experience can inform other jurisdictions considering or implementing similar policies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%