Healthy School Meals for All is a coalition of partners across the state of Wisconsin who are advocating for legislative change to make school meals accessible for all kids. Goals of the coalition include:

· Ensuring no child is hungry at school · Help all children get the nutrition they need to succeed at school · Create a permanent change to make school meals free for all children · Join a national conversation about this topic

Coalition members include:

· Elected Officials · School districts · School nutrition services · Food Banks · Churches · Professional Associations (nursing, public health, social workers, etc.) · Non-profits · Shelters ·

Healthy school meals for all would allow every student who wants or needs a school breakfast or lunch to receive it, at no cost to their family. The cost would be covered by the existing National School Lunch Program federal reimbursement combined with a supplemental state reimbursement. It means that children would no longer have to worry about lunch shaming or school meal debt. More children would eat, and children could focus on learning, not how much money is in their lunch account.

In Wisconsin 1 in 5 children don’t have enough food to eat. School meals were available to all students for no charge during the pandemic. Participation rose while childhood hunger decreased. Providing school meals shows commitment to children’s health and school work. It allows children to concentrate on school during the day, and not where their next meal may be. U.S. children get their healthiest meals at school, demonstrating that school meals are one of the most powerful tools for delivering good nutrition to children. School meals tend to be of higher nutritional quality than meals brought from home. Healthy School Meals for All will help reduce racial disparities in health and education for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous children, who experience hunger at disproportionate rates and face systematic barriers to food access.

With Healthy School Meals for All, every school in Wisconsin would be able to provide breakfast and lunch to every student that wants one. Parents would still have the option to provide a lunch for their child. The federal government would continue to provide per-meal reimbursements to schools based on their free/reduced tiered system, and the state would ensure that school districts don’t break the bank by providing a supplemental reimbursement for meals served.

School meals provided at a tiered price system: free, reduced-price, and full price. Households qualify for free or reduced lunch through an application process at the school district or through participation in other federal assistance programs.

Households earning less than 130% (or about $39,000 annually for a family of 4) of the federal poverty level receive meals for free. Households between 130% and 185% of the federal poverty level receive meals at reduced price. All other students pay full price.

649 schools covering 228,000 students in Wisconsin use a different program, called Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), to serve meals to all of their students with no charge. Only about 60% of the eligible schools are currently enrolled in CEP.

A few school districts have a adopted their own policy to cover the cost of reduced price meals, or serve free breakfast.

Very few full school districts participate in the program called Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which provides meals to all enrolled students with no charge. Healthy School Meals for All would ensure uniform meal policy across entire school districts, across counties, and across Wisconsin. All schools, and all students would be on an equal playing field.

CEP meal reimbursements are based on a number of factors. Healthy School Meals for All would provide stability in reimbursements, so school districts can more easily create and meet budgets.

Join us! Our coalition meets monthly and we provide the most up-to-date info and most impactful actions you can take:

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