Across California, families, educators, and kids are heading back to their classrooms for another year of learning. Unfortunately, in California, as many as 1 in 6 children are facing food insecurity. For these students, a healthy meal is the most important school supply – as important to their learning as a new notebook and pencils. With the high costs of food, fuel, and other essentials, many hardworking families are struggling to make ends meet. School meals programs help take some of the burden off of these families, making sure kids are able to access nutritious meals every day.
Why School Meals Matter
School meals are a healthy, convenient, and inclusive way to ensure students have the nutrition they need to thrive in the classroom and beyond.
- Healthy: School meals conform to nutritional guidelines, making sure that kids are getting the fruits, veggies, and proteins they need to grow and be healthy. In fact, Research shows that for many children, the meals they eat at school are the most nutritionally balanced meals they get all day.
- Convenient: School meals can save busy parents the work of having to prepare breakfast and lunch each morning.
- Inclusive: School meals help create a sense of community, by bringing together peers and trusted adults, like teachers. They play a role in building equity in the school, making sure kids can focus on their classwork and on just being kids. And school meals are available to ALL children, regardless of immigration status.
School Meal Applications and CEP
In most districts, families must complete and submit applications to determine their eligibility for free or reduced price meals. Even schools that offer free meals for all students (for example, through the Community Eligibility Provision) may require families to complete applications. Applications for free and reduced price meals are also one of the primary ways to determine eligibility for Summer EBT, called SUN Bucks in California — a grocery-buying benefit for families during the summer. School meals applications may also qualify families for additional benefits, like discounted exam fees and college applications, extracurriculars, scholarship opportunities, and even affordable internet. They can also help your child’s school secure additional classroom resources that will support all students’ education.
If you have school aged children, be sure to fill out an application for free or reduced price meals this school year!
Help spread the word! Encourage your friends and family to contact their children’s school to learn more. Work at a school district and want to spread the word about meal applications? Check out our School Meals Applications resources!
This toolkit was created to help you get the word out to students and families about school meals. It includes both ready-to-use and customizable assets to help you quickly and easily communicate with students and families about school meals. No social media? No problem! The graphics and sample language can also be used in newsletters, on flyers, or in emails.
Will your school or district be offering free meals for all students this school year? No Kid Hungry has a toolkit to help you spread the word to students and families! Check it out if you are participating in CEP or using other non-pricing models like Provision 2. The toolkit includes downloadable and customizable graphics, posters, and social media posts—available in both English and Spanish.
Join No Kid Hungry
No Kid Hungry California is working to ensure every child in the Golden State can access the healthy school meals they need to grow up healthy and strong. We do this through providing grants to launch and improve school meals programs; advocating for smart state and federal school meals policies; building awareness; and offering tools, resources, and training to help build and maintain successful school meals programs.
Donate: 1 dollar can help provide 10 meals* for kids. Your support will help us fund meal programs all over the country and help us advocate for policies that will help kids get the meals they need” *Donations help support programs that feed kids; No Kid Hungry does not provide individual meals. Learn more at NoKidHungry.org/OneDollar
Last reviewed: August 15, 2024