Free Universal School Meals: A Crucial Public Health and Social Justice Move for California and the Nation

Expanding Universal School Meals for All is a massive win for public health and social justice. California is now the first state to provide free breakfast and lunch to all public school students for the next two years. Thank you to Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and the School Meals for All Coalition of more than 200 nonprofits, supported by philanthropist and real food advocate Kat Taylor, for championing this policy.  As a pediatrician and a school district food service director, we know that nutritious school food is one of the most powerful levers to safeguard children’s health. Why? Kids can often get 50-100% of their daily calories from school meals. At the nonprofit we help lead, Eat REAL, we regularly ask, “How do we make the 7.2 billion meals served through U.S. public schools annually healthier so that every school is a food oasis for children?” These policy changes will support both the largest demographic in California, our Latinx community, which makes up 39% of the state’s population, and all Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) children. Health initiatives benefiting BIPOC and specifically Latinx communities can make a critical difference. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, one in five Latinos in the state live below the poverty line, which increases food insecurity and can cause lasting childhood trauma (known as adverse childhood experiences  or ‘ACEs’). Many Latinx students partic...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - Category: Child Development Authors: Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog School Lunch School Melas Schoolage Nutrition Source Type: blogs