CJS Decision 2024

In New York City, where according to the Child Hunger Report by City Harvest, one in four children experience food insecurity, K-12 schools offer free meals to students thanks to an expansion of New York’s Community Eligibility Provision, which broadened the income cutoff necessary for free school meals. But students outside of the city aren’t guaranteed free school breakfasts and lunches. 

Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas introduced a bill that aims to change that in a state where, according to the nonprofit, Hunger Solutions New York, two in three students from low income households do not get the opportunity to eat a school breakfast. Statewide, according to a New York State Department of Health report, one in four adults undergo food insecurity.

González-Rojas’s bill would require public school districts, charter schools, and non-public schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program to provide free meals to students. The bill has garnered support from more than 100 co-sponsors, but it has also faced some opposition. 

Now in committee, the bill’s proponents include Buffalo, New York District 149 Assemblyman Jonathan Rivera, who contends that the legislation aligns with other state laws that work to protect and improve the lives of children in the state. 

Rivera concedes that other lawmakers are hesitant about the bill, given how expensive it would be for the state to fund. Despite not detailing the exact amount this free school meal plan would cost, last year, Sen. Michelle Hinchey secured a $134.6 million statewide investment for an expansion of free school meals for 347,000 students across 1,200 schools in New York. Hinchey called for more state funding to feed an additional 321,000 students in 650 schools who still lacked access to free, universal meals. 

Those opposed to González-Rojas’s bill have not made public statements about their opposition. However, Rivera made it clear that there were certain lawmakers who were on the fence about putting millions behind school meal funding.

John Adams High School in Ozone Park by Briannagh Dennehy

Those opposed to González-Rojas’s bill have not made public statements about their opposition. However, Rivera made it clear that there were certain lawmakers who were on the fence about putting millions behind school meal funding.

She believes the state’s budget should be used to aid youth and struggling parents who cannot afford meals for their children. 

“The budget of the state of New York is quite expansive and what we invest in is a reflection of what we care about, and what’s a priority to us, and there’s really not a better investment than our children,” Rivera said. 

Zawar Hussain, an 18-year-old high school graduate from South Ozone Park, says he has noticed how a lack of access to food can lead to students feeling ashamed, or worse, endure bullying. 

“I used to have friends that weren’t as fortunate, so bringing school lunches, like the cool little Kool-Aid pouches, and you know, even if there’s a cartoon on it, I know that they felt some type of way,” Hussain said. 

Hussain believes that the bill could help to change these harmful hierarchies in schools, but he worries that children might not take advantage of the food offered to them. 

“There might be a lot of wastage because people might take advantage of the free lunches. The ones who are more fortunate, they might take it as a sense of like ‘oh well, we’re not paying for them, or we already had that. I don’t know, let’s just do a school food fight or something’,” Hussain said. 

When considering the cost of lunches, how does New York compare to other states? According to listed school lunch prices for the 2023-24 academic year at New Hope Elementary in Cumming, GA, the cost of an elementary school lunch is $3. This is cheaper than the cost of elementary school lunches within the Port Jefferson School District in Long Island, NY, which come in at $3.95 per lunch.

A school bus in South Ozone Park in District 31 by Briannagh Dennehy

For some children, having a meal on a daily basis is not guaranteed. Proponents of the bill contend that, if passed, students would get free breakfast and lunch for five days of the week. They argue that universal meals would alleviate the financial burden of parents, who might be making the choice between paying bills and buying breakfast for their child. 

South Ozone Park resident Anne Bess, a grandmother of two young boys in elementary school, said that the bill’s benefits outweigh its cons. “There may be children who have no other choice but to eat what is there,” Bess said. 

Jeffrey Jetter has a young niece who he hopes will take advantage of this bill, if passed. The South Ozone Park resident emphasized how much pressure this bill would take off of working parents, but cautioned that children might not understand how important it is to consume these meals.

“It will help the parents. It will help them,” Jetter said. “It just depends on how the kids are, how the discipline is with the kids, and if they want to take advantage of the food.”

Rivera believes free meals are an essential way to ensure that students are energized and focused in order to pay attention to what they are being taught. 

“When you think about how much money we spend on education, and to think how advanced we are as a state, and how far along we are as a state and a country,” Rivera said, “the idea that we still don't have free meals for children is a real indicator of how far we still have to go.”