American Families Worry About End to Free School Lunches
2022-07-04
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1As gas and food prices rise in the United States, some families are worried about having to pay for something else in the fall: lunch for their children at school.
2For at least the last two school years, many parents did not have to worry about preparing or buying their school-aged children lunch.
3That is because emergency government funding during the early part of the coronavirus pandemic included food aid for children.
4The aid covered lunch for children during the school year and during the summer for many families.
5But the free lunch funding is set to end in several states before the start of the next school year.
6Before the pandemic, Kate Murphy of Vermont and her family did not have enough money to pay for their four children to buy lunch at school.
7Instead, they purchased lunch foods in large amounts and sent their children to school with food each morning.
8But when the pandemic hit, the U.S. government made lunch money available to most schools.
9The support came at a critical time for the Murphy family, because Kate's husband had lost his job.
10Because of the free lunch program, the Murphys had one less financial concern.
11But now the family may have to worry about lunch again.
12Murphy said her family earns a bit too much money to qualify for free lunches based on the old program's income rules.
13Experts say the end of the school lunch aid and other programs that helped families save money means more will have to get help from food banks.
14Food banks provide meals and food for no cost to families and individuals in need.
15Vince Hall is a government relations officer for Feeding America, a group of food banks across the U.S.
16He said many families are now "facing a very difficult reality of having to choose between feeding their kids or filling up their gas tanks or purchasing medicine."
17The U.S. Agriculture Department oversees the school meal program.
18Cindy Long is an administrator for the department's Food and Nutrition Service.
19She said that, during the pandemic, the number of children getting free meals increased from 20 million to 30 million.
20A summer meal program in 2020 gave out 1.3 billion meals and snacks.
21The total cost was $4.1 billion. That was eight times greater than program costs from a year earlier.
22President Joe Biden recently signed a bill that should keep summer meal programs running in the same way they did during the first two summers of the pandemic.
23Some states are using their own money to make the free meals permanent.
24California and Maine did that last year.
25Massachusetts and Colorado are working on state proposals that would provide food aid for at least one more school year.
26Vermont, where the Murphy family lives, said it would use extra money in the education budget to fund food aid for the upcoming year.
27"Our kids have so much to worry about these days, and food shouldn't be one of them," Kate Murphy said.
28On a recent day at the Albert D. Lawton school in Vermont, students ate pizza and salad with their friends.
29One student, Ethan Pringle, said it is hard to learn when you feel hungry.
30"Not everybody has the same situation at home," he said.
31"So I think free lunch, it makes it easier for everybody."
32I'm Dan Friedell.
1As gas and food prices rise in the United States, some families are worried about having to pay for something else in the fall: lunch for their children at school. 2For at least the last two school years, many parents did not have to worry about preparing or buying their school-aged children lunch. That is because emergency government funding during the early part of the coronavirus pandemic included food aid for children. The aid covered lunch for children during the school year and during the summer for many families. 3But the free lunch funding is set to end in several states before the start of the next school year. 4Before the pandemic, Kate Murphy of Vermont and her family did not have enough money to pay for their four children to buy lunch at school. Instead, they purchased lunch foods in large amounts and sent their children to school with food each morning. 5But when the pandemic hit, the U.S. government made lunch money available to most schools. The support came at a critical time for the Murphy family, because Kate's husband had lost his job. Because of the free lunch program, the Murphys had one less financial concern. 6But now the family may have to worry about lunch again. Murphy said her family earns a bit too much money to qualify for free lunches based on the old program's income rules. 7Experts say the end of the school lunch aid and other programs that helped families save money means more will have to get help from food banks. Food banks provide meals and food for no cost to families and individuals in need. 8Vince Hall is a government relations officer for Feeding America, a group of food banks across the U.S. He said many families are now "facing a very difficult reality of having to choose between feeding their kids or filling up their gas tanks or purchasing medicine." 9The U.S. Agriculture Department oversees the school meal program. Cindy Long is an administrator for the department's Food and Nutrition Service. She said that, during the pandemic, the number of children getting free meals increased from 20 million to 30 million. 10A summer meal program in 2020 gave out 1.3 billion meals and snacks. The total cost was $4.1 billion. That was eight times greater than program costs from a year earlier. 11President Joe Biden recently signed a bill that should keep summer meal programs running in the same way they did during the first two summers of the pandemic. 12Some states are using their own money to make the free meals permanent. California and Maine did that last year. Massachusetts and Colorado are working on state proposals that would provide food aid for at least one more school year. 13Vermont, where the Murphy family lives, said it would use extra money in the education budget to fund food aid for the upcoming year. 14"Our kids have so much to worry about these days, and food shouldn't be one of them," Kate Murphy said. 15On a recent day at the Albert D. Lawton school in Vermont, students ate pizza and salad with their friends. One student, Ethan Pringle, said it is hard to learn when you feel hungry. 16"Not everybody has the same situation at home," he said. "So I think free lunch, it makes it easier for everybody." 17I'm Dan Friedell. 18Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press. 19Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 20________________________________________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22funding- n. money that usually comes from an outside source to pay for something 23qualify -v. to have the right to do something 24income - n. the amount of money earned for a job or from investments 25snack - n. a small amount of food usually eaten outside of regular meal times