Photo: Michelle Griffith/Minnesota Reformer
Celebrating Minnesota’s universal free school meals program, Gov. Tim Walz donned plastic gloves, apron and baseball cap to serve sweet and sour chicken to Edgerton Elementary students. In September, students ate 1.1 million more breakfasts and 1.1 million more lunches compared to September 2022 - a 30% increase in breakfasts and 11% increase in lunches. More meals served means students attend classes with full stomachs and their families save time and money, said Walz, who signed the universal free school lunch bill into law last March. Students can receive one free breakfast and one free lunch every day regardless of family income. Most Minnesota schools receive federal funding from the National School Lunch Program but there is a funding gap which the new program fills, even as it cuts paperwork and stigma.
|
|
More:
