As the 2024-25 school year begins, students across Massachusetts won’t have to worry about eating a good breakfast and lunch. After the state stepped in and continued free school meal programs after funding ended during the pandemic, families are taking advantage of the opportunity.
The state made the implementation of free school meals for all permanent through the Legislature and a combination of state and federal funds. Governor Maura Healey’s office recently released the latest data on the state’s Healthy School Meals for All policy, showing a significant increase in student participation compared to the 2018-19 school year.
Statistics show that 12.2 million more lunches were served, serving 61,500 more students per school day. 9 million more breakfasts were served, serving more than 43,000 more students per school day.
It was a huge success, says Rob Leshin, director of the Office of Food and Nutrition Programs in the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
“As a father, I know that students only eat lunch when they like it and feel like it,” he says. “The fact that over 60,000 more children are eating lunch at school is certainly due to the fact that meals are free for families, which reduces additional costs and burdens for many families. But also that something is going right in school canteens to keep students coming back for lunch and breakfast.”
Gone are the days of forgetting your lunch money – all students in public schools in Massachusetts now receive free lunch.
Leshin said the additional funding the state legislature has allocated for the free meal program has allowed schools to purchase more local ingredients, so the money goes back into state agriculture and goes to local farms and fishermen.
“Additionally, the additional funding helps address staffing shortages in school kitchens to ensure there are enough staff and resources to provide the menus that children want to enjoy,” Leshin says. “And we’ve certainly seen a whole lot of improvements and can continue to provide really well-crafted school meals with a lot of cooking from scratch.”
There is no registration required for this program. It is free for everyone. The children simply come along and eat.
“Studies and research have shown that meeting students’ basic needs, such as nutrition, by alleviating hunger definitely prepares students for performance and success in the classroom,” says Leshin. “Hungry children cannot learn, so we here at DESE are excited about the additional federal support from the Legislature to provide free school meals for all and alleviate student hunger so children can focus on learning and achieving.”
