The New Jersey Assembly Agriculture and Food Security Committee has taken a significant step forward in the pursuit of providing universal free school lunch for all children in the state. Today, they advanced a groundbreaking legislation that aims to ensure that every student in New Jersey will have access to nutritious meals by the 2028-2029 school year.
The bill, sponsored by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, proposes a phased approach to implementing free lunch programs in schools. Over a span of five years, schools with lunch programs would gradually increase the number of income-eligible students receiving free lunches. At the end of this phase-in period, the legislation mandates that all enrolled students, regardless of their household income or federal eligibility, must be provided with free lunch.
Under the current federal law, students are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches if they meet specific income criteria or demonstrate that they come from low-income households. However, this bill seeks to expand existing state law by progressively extending subsidized school lunch eligibility to students in higher income brackets. By doing so, the legislation aims to ensure that every student, irrespective of income or federal eligibility, has access to free school lunch.
The bill is set to take effect during the upcoming 2023-2024 school year and is expected to benefit a significant number of New Jersey’s K-12 students. Reports suggest that over 26,000 additional students will be able to participate in free school meal programs as a result of this legislation.
During the committee’s hearing, numerous groups and organizations expressed their support for the bill. Many advocates urged the sponsors to consider an immediate implementation of universal lunch, bypassing the five-year phase-in period outlined in the current version of the legislation.
Furthermore, the bill ensures that any students newly eligible for free school lunch under its provisions will also be entitled to receive free lunches through summer meal programs or emergency meals distribution programs. These provisions were enacted during the Covid-19 pandemic and have proven crucial in addressing food insecurity among students.
With the advancement of this legislation, New Jersey is taking a significant step towards providing equal access to nutritious meals for all students. If passed, the state will join the ranks of others leading the way in ensuring that no child goes hungry while pursuing their education.
Please don’t bring back the summer boxes. There was so much waste going on
Wow! rather pompous of you to make such a remark when so many people were able to feed their families with less stress because of the boxes. Don’t know where you saw the waste but what I saw was families sharing so that everything was used.
I was in an area where the majority were learning families who didn’t make enough money. They kept going around and asking if people wanted things but no one would take them since everyone else had the same things and there was not enough space to store. So before you call people pompous, think first if the person has first hand knowledge of the situation
Most people kept 50% of the box and traded or tossed the rest. It enriched a few of the providers while the peasants got mere morsels.
If they truly wanted to help they can provide vouchers to be used for healthy items at ones local grocery store at their choosing.