By Lizanne F. Hagedorn • Posted March 14, 2025

“What would happen if school meals went away?”  This question was asked of Kelly Stroman, the school meal manager of 21 years at St. Athanasius Catholic School.  “I don’t want to think about it,” she replied.  “There would be a whole lot of hungry kids…”  Kelly noted that without school meals many children would be “less healthy and less productive in school.”

Unfortunately, the possibility of school meals “going away” for some students is actually a real possibility for millions of children in the United States.  The US Congress proposes to cut $12 billion dollars out of the budget for the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program, which has been administered by the Unites States Department of Agriculture, (USDA) and paid for by our taxes.

In the current reconciliation bill, Congress is proposing to make drastic changes to the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) which has been successful at preventing childhood hunger and fostering healthy eating, thereby increasing the success rate of students. Here in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Nutritional Development Services (NDS) implemented CEP to provide all students in participating schools, healthy breakfast and lunch at no cost to families. This makes all students equal in the cafeteria.  Studies have found that children who eat school meals test better and are more engaged than those who do not.  As Kelly commented, “You can’t think when you are hungry.”

If the proposed changes to CEP are included in the new budget, 8,000 students currently served by NDS could lose access to these free meals.

Under the proposed plan, some parents would need to complete a meal application and provide documentation of their wages.  One hundred percent verification of every family’s application is unprecedented in the long history of the National School Lunch Program and would create many obstacles for families, schools, and service providers like NDS.  Under these conditions, many schools would no longer be able to operate this valuable program.

Keeping CEP intact is an efficient way to run a school meal program and to make sure all children have access to nutritious food.  For many children, the meals provided at school are often the healthiest.  As a country, investments in our children’s health and development should be a priority.

Please contact your federal elected officials and tell them not to make cuts to the National School Lunch Program.

For more information go to:  https://schoolnutrition2.quorum.us/campaign/107317/

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Lizanne F. Hagedorn is executive director of Nutritional Development Service of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.