Iowa must offer FREE school meals to all students (OPINION)

This article is marked “Opinion.” The words here are mine, although I doubt many people reading this will think my views on the subject are controversial. Here we go. I believe that no child in the state of Iowa should ever go hungry in school. Regardless of income, it’s time for the state of Iowa to step in and feed students in our schools. Crazy, right?

I understand that offering something for “free” can get on some people’s nerves. But we’re talking about our kids here. They’re going to school, learning, and preparing for their future. Is it too much to ask that we find a way to make sure they eat there? Some states have already implemented free school meal programs. NYCFoodPolicy reports that California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Vermont have all found ways to pay for school meals. Each state handles things a little differently. But for comparison, I thought we’d look at what Minnesota is doing and how Iowa could do the same.

Minnesota’s free lunch program began last school year. NYCFoodPolicy says schools are eligible to receive reimbursement for free meals from the state if they participate in the USDA’s National School Lunch Program. Free meals do not apply to a la carte items or second servings. As you can imagine, the program is very popular. Demand for school meals has increased 20%, according to MPRNews. The cost? $81 million over the next two years and $95 million in the two years after that, according to MPRNews. So how will it be paid for? The Minnesota House of Representatives reports that the state’s budget surplus is expected to grow to $3.7 billion, more than double previous projections. That surplus will help feed Minnesota’s 993,000 school-age children this year.

And what about the state of Iowa? According to Iowa.gov, there are over 519,000 school-age children in the state. And according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, the state finished fiscal year 2023 with a budget surplus of nearly $1.9 billion. Another $2.7 billion is in the Taxpayer Relief Fund and $902 million is in reserve funds. Is that enough to buy school children lunch? At least, that’s what some Iowa lawmakers think. NYCFoodPolicy reports that the Iowa Senate introduced bill SF 303 last session. It proposed free meals for all Iowa school children, funded by the Iowa Department of Education. Unfortunately, the bill never made it out of committee.

Maybe it’s just my imagination, but feeding our children in school seems to be an issue that both sides of the political spectrum can get behind. The state has the money to set up a program like Minnesota’s. Think of all the families who have one less thing to worry about. One less bill to pay. Yes, there are programs that provide free meals at school for low-income earners. But what about all the middle-income and middle-class families who don’t meet those requirements and are struggling?

Food insecurity is a problem in many states, including Iowa, and it seems we can afford to fix it.