In 2018, the Desert Sands Unified School District was part of a federal pilot program to test out free lunches for all students. Six schools in areas with high rates of poverty were selected.
The results were so successful, director of student nutrition Daniel Cappello said, that it expanded to at least 10 other schools the following year. Then came the school closures amid the spread of COVID-19, which brought universal-meal policies to the masses thanks to federal relief programs.
In 2022, California became the first state in the nation to offer a Universal Meals Program for all school children. It requires public schools to offer a free and nutritionally adequate breakfast and lunch every day, regardless of the student’s household income.
From where Cappello is sitting, the switch couldn’t have come too soon, given how grocery prices have risen, and how many families are struggling financially.
“We give kids books; we give them pencils. Why not give them a meal?” he said. “Universal free meals is a win for everybody.”
Other states are catching on. The Food Research & Action Center, an advocacy organization that aims to end poverty-related hunger and food insecurity, counts at least seven other states that have passed universal free-meal programs: Maine, Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico, Vermont, Michigan and Massachusetts. This fall, it’s posited to become a campaign issue in the presidential race, given Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, signed universal meals legislation in Minnesota last year.
At Desert Sands, Cappello said one of the biggest benefits to free meals is that there’s no more stigma around who has to pay, and who doesn’t. As much as 70% of the student population across Palm Desert, La Quinta and Indio would have qualified before free meals became universal. While the district’s system for meals aimed to keep students’ status private, some kids may have felt embarrassment or shame.
“It was uncomfortable for the kids at times,” he said. “There should be no shame if you apply for and receive a free meal. But unfortunately, sometimes, there was.”
Meanwhile, kids who had to pay might also sometimes experience discomfort—like having to tell the staff they forgot their lunch money or don’t have enough that day. “If you’re not in the free-lunch program, you have to have cash and make sure your parents don’t forget,” Cappello said.
Dealing with lunch money—in an increasingly cashless era—also frustrated parents, Cappello said. While the district did have a system that allowed parents to pre-load their child’s account with money, it would charge extra processing fees.
“We give kids books; we give them pencils. Why not give them a meal? Universal free meals is a win for everybody.”
Daniel Cappello, Desert Sands Unified School District director of student nutrition
All these issues piled up debt for the school district. Cappello said the district before COVID-19 saw lunch debt go from $30,000 one year to as high as $130,000.
“We feed every kid. We never turned anyone away for not having any money or not filling out the application,” he said. But that money would ultimately have to come out of the school’s district budget to make the operations whole. Now, he said, the department no longer operates at a deficit.
The funding system for school districts can be complex. The federal government, via the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will reimburse districts for meals for students who qualify for reduced lunch. But in California, the Universal Meal Program essentially reimburses a district for all of the other students’ meals.
There’s evidence that more kids will get school lunch when it’s free. Statewide, the number of meals served increased dramatically after the state introduced the program. Data from the USDA shows schools served more than 849.3 million lunches and breakfasts served in the 2022-2023 school year. That’s about 25 million more meals than were served in the 2018-2019 school year.
Monica Saucedo, a senior policy fellow with the California Budget and Policy Center, told the Independent that the policy has had tangible benefits for families across the state. “Access has definitely increased,” she said.
It’s also become an important safety net for families that hit hard times unexpectedly. Getting a student who is suddenly eligible for free lunch can be a multi-step process. But the Universal Meal Program means that a parent who loses a job won’t have to worry about feeding their kids at least two healthy meals a day. “We know food insecurity can happen at any income level, and circumstances can shift so quickly,” she said. “It’s huge for kids who don’t have a steady source of food.”
At this point, Saucedo said, it’s critical to ensure that the program is continually prioritized, even as more students are taking part, and the state deals with a budget deficit. The base funding for the program is $1.6 billion. But this year’s state budget added an additional $179.4 million on an ongoing basis from Proposition 98 general funding, which comes from a combination of state general fund revenue and local property taxes. This budget also includes a one-time allocation of $120.8 billion.
“This investment highlights the importance of this program in the lives of children, particularly given the state’s budget deficit,” Saucedo said.
Behind the scenes, making school lunches free also adds operational efficiency. Before, families facing economic hardships had to qualify for free or reduced lunch, which meant a burdensome bundle of paperwork for families and for the districts to manage. Cappello said the district—which serves about 26,800 kids a day—would receive thousands of applications that had to be processed by hand, but now the district no longer has to process those applications. Many schools across the country are in the same boat, thanks to a federal Community Eligibility Provision for districts in low-income areas.
To Cappello, this is a policy that allows his team to put their attention elsewhere.
“When everybody is free, we can focus on the food,” Capelllo said.