California Becomes First State to Offer Free School Meals To All Students

California has become the first state to implement a statewide Universal Meals Program for all public school children. The Universal Meals program will be used to reach more students with the federal National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. The Meal Mandate is expanded to include both a nutritious breakfast and lunch for, not just needy children, but all children each school day.

The Universal Meals program is designed to build on the foundations of the federal National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP). The program is powered by both state and federal funds. The California State Legislature allocates funds to provide additional state meal reimbursement to cover the cost of the Universal Meals Program. High poverty schools will be required to participate in a federal provision.

Prior to this program, students qualified for free meals under particular criteria which included aspects like their parents’ income taxes, the level of poverty in the school’s surrounding area and the zip code where the family lives. With over 327,000 students in California public schools, 60% of students qualified for free school meals.

The state recently implemented the Universal Program to address rising food insecurity. While California produces nearly half of the nation’s fruits and vegetables, on average one in five residents — about 8 million people — struggle with food insecurity, according to the California Association of Food Banks.

Now, with the state launching the mandatory Universal Meals Program, parents will be sure that their children can get at least two free, full meals at schools daily and not have to incur the expense for preparing breakfast and lunch for them. All students will be automatically enrolled in the program, although students will not be required to participate. Instead, meals will be served to the students who ask for them.