Reduced administrative burden on schools and families: 

Previously, schools participating in the free and reduced lunch program through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) were required to collect paperwork for each student to confirm eligibility. This process typically includes advertising the program to families and ensuring that each qualifying student has the opportunity to apply. However, many parents may hesitate to apply for fear of sharing information with a government program and difficulty understanding or documenting eligibility. This places an unfair burden on immigrant families, families of color, and families with fluctuating income, preventing many from accessing free school meals despite the need. The school meals waivers enacted during the pandemic addressed this issue and allowed schools to serve free meals to all students without the paperwork. This was a big win for schools because it allowed staff to instead devote more time and resources to feeding students and helping them learn. 

Advances equity in schools: 

Students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch often face stigma and bullying due to the association of free meals to poverty. This impacts students’ mental health and learning outcomes—a values-aligned universal meals program has the potential to ensure kids get high-quality nourishment free of stigma. 

Improved quality of meals through scratch cooking and local procurement: 

School nutrition professionals and cafeteria staff have seen tremendous benefit from the flexibilities granted by the waivers, which extended beyond ensuring that all kids were fed. Universal school meals incentivize greater participation in school meal programs, which lets schools devote more money to paying staff, investing in equipment, and pursuing initiatives like farm to school. The higher reimbursement rates and added flexibility granted by the waivers allowed some schools to preserve their gains in local procurement and scratch cooking. Many school district leaders agree that universal meals would provide the additional funding to incorporate more scratch cooking and local farm to school initiatives into their meal programs:  

Supports school cafeteria staff: 

Historically, school meal programs’ financial resources have been stretched thin due to low federal reimbursement rates for school meals. This often forces school districts to hire workers part-time at very low wages without benefits, to simply heat and serve pre-made meals. The increased reimbursement rates and universal free meals allowed by the pandemic-era waivers have been a lifeline for school meals programs. However, when these federal child nutrition waivers expire on June 30, 2022, many schools around the country will once again struggle to cover costs and support their cafeteria staff. 

National Farm to School Network is delighted to partner with a core group of national organizations and experts in this work: 

• American Heart Association
• Center for Good Food Purchasing 
• Chef Ann Foundation 
• FoodCorps 
• Food Research & Action Center 
• Friends of the Earth 
• HEAL Food Alliance 
• Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative 
• Intertribal Agriculture Council
• National Black Child Development Institute 
• National CACFP Sponsors Association 
• National Education Association 
• QJM Multiprise
• Rural Coalition 
• ScratchWorks 
• Union of Concerned Scientists 
• Urban School Food Alliance 

• Health and Economic Gains of School Meals at Risk as Child Nutrition Program Waivers Expire 
• We Need to Rebuild Our Food System. Schools Can Lead. 
• Farm to School Efforts During COVID-19 Highlight Resilient Community Food Systems 
• Webinar: ​​Local and Values-Based Procurement from Farm to Cafeteria