U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern has proposed a bill that would increase federal reimbursement rates for free and reduced school meals in an effort to offset costs of labor and nutritious foods in public schools.
McGovern said the bill is necessary as “Donald Trump’s economy has sent food prices through the roof.”
The Worcester Democrat criticized Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the U.S. Health and Human Services, for failing to acknowledge the bill and promote school nutrition, despite his campaign to end artificial food dyes and to “Make Our Children Healthy Again.”
“I hear Secretary Kennedy talk all the time or restricting this or restricting that, but I don’t hear him talk about how to actually provide our students with more nutritious and locally-sourced foods,” McGovern said.
The bill would increase the reimbursement level for lunches by 45 cents and breakfast meals by 28 cents with an annual yearly adjustment. McGovern said the increased funding from reimbursements would incentivize public schools to source their food locally from farms.
McGovern said the bill would increase business for local farms. “We grow and we raise almost everything in Massachusetts and I want to make sure that our small- and medium-sized farmers can continue to not only survive, but to thrive in the future,” McGovern said.
The Greenfield Public Schools Food and Services Director, Kristen Osborn, expressed support for McGovern’s bill, explaining that her department has resorted to joining a food co-op with other district schools in order to afford local foods amid rising costs.
“The rise in food costs is definitely challenging, and so this proposed bill would be really helpful to get extra funding given the rise in food costs,” Osborn said.
The Nutrition Director of Northampton Public Schools, Mistelle Hannah, also expressed the need for more funding.
“Any increase in reimbursement is directly going to go into the quality of the food on the tray,” Hannah said. “The direct outcome is our students.”
The federal government increased reimbursement rates for school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic, but since then, the reimbursement rates dropped.
Jason Gromley, senior director for Share Our Strength and its No Kid Hungry campaign, said funding and resources for nutrition staff at public schools is still an ongoing issue, stating that the bill would benefit “all communities.”
“It’s not anything that’s new, we saw it really intensely during the pandemic, especially where food costs continued to rise,” Gromley said.
The School Nutrition Association conducted a survey and found that 97.9% of food directors cited challenges with the cost of food and only 20.5% of directors thought the reimbursement rate was sufficient in covering the cost of lunch.
In a response to potential opposition to the bill due to its costs, McGovern said that the bill will “save you money” in the long term as it will help prevent children from contracting food-related ailments.
“Food is medicine,” McGovern said. “If you are exposed mostly to unhealthy foods, well, then you’re probably going to end up with a number of chronic conditions that will not only stay with you the rest of your life, but will be incredibly costly to our health care system.”
By Joanna Malvas writes for the Gazette as part of the Boston University Statehouse Program.