All 1.4 million children in Michigan public schools will have access to free school meals again in the new school year.
Funding for the Michigan School Meals program was secured through a $200 million allocation in the 2025 school aid budget signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer last month. The program provides free breakfast and lunch to every public school student.
Michigan has been offering free school meals to all children through the state program since the 2023-24 school year. Last school year, the program provided more than 76.3 million breakfasts and 135.6 million lunches, state education officials said.
State School Superintendent Michael F. Rice said he is pleased that Michigan public schools will be able to continue offering free, healthy meals to all students in their buildings during the upcoming 2024-25 school year.
“The Michigan School Meals program promotes student success and aligns with Goal 3 of Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan to improve the health, safety and well-being of all students,” Rice said in a press release.
The budget provides federal reimbursement for free breakfast and lunch for public school students in school buildings participating in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.
Families do not have to pay for the meals but are asked to fill out family income forms with their school district so their local school is eligible for additional educational funds, officials said.
School meals in Michigan and across the country will receive new nutrition standards that for the first time limit added sugar, school board officials said. The rule also reduces sodium content in children’s meals.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced updated regulations on nutrition standards for school meals. The new rules took effect on July 1, but the USDA is phasing in the necessary changes over time, federal officials said.
Limits on added sugars would be required in the 2025-26 school year and would begin with high-sugar foods such as cereal, yogurt and flavored milk. By fall 2027, added sugars in school meals would be limited to 10% or less of total calories per week for breakfast and lunch, and the sugar content of some products would be limited.
The agency will reduce the allowable sodium content at breakfast by 10% and at lunch by 15% by the 2027/28 school year.
