Call for universal free meals in New York schools amidst ongoing child hunger crisis

ALBANY, NY (WRGB) — Lawmakers and advocates are asking New York Governor Kathy Hochul to make sure all students in New York are well-fed.

This comes after the state put $134 million toward funding free meals in more than a thousand schools last year, but some kids are still going hungry.

“We have hungry kids in our classrooms there is no mistake about that. in 2024, in New York State this is unacceptable,” says Melinda Person, President of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT)

Last year one in six children in New York experienced hunger.

While the state expanded free meal eligibility last year, there were 650 schools left behind.

More than 300,000 New York children are left out, mainly in the Upper Hudson Valley, Long Island, and Western New York.

Local students are getting in on the advocacy, like Lizzie Andrus, a senior at Shenendehowa Central School District.

“My reason to fight for free meals started six years ago with a boy I ate lunch with," Andrusa said. "Sometimes he brought a granola bar with him to lunch but most days he sat quietly because he couldn't afford to buy lunch. This is just one snapshot of the many kids throughout New York State falling through the cracks.”

The push for universal free school meals has support on both sides of the aisle.

Democrat Senator Michelle Hinchey is fiercely pushing for universal meals, saying “we don't do income eligibility for transportation, we don't do income eligibility for books; why do we do it for food?"

As a former teacher, republican Senator Jim Tedisco said he remembers hearing students' stomach growl in class due to having no food.

“There's a whole bunch of things that impact a kid's ability to learn, and food and nutrition and being stressed out is certainly one of them," Tedisco said.

Those like Patrick Kenneally, a food service manager for Capital Region BOCES say this is more than creating new policies.

“As a chef, our cafeteria should be a place of community, it should be a place where our different socio-economic groups can break bread together,” Kenneally added. “We see in all other situations where food brings people together but our broken system and how we operate in schools further creates a divide."

Other states that passed universal free school meals include Massachusetts, Vermont, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Michigan.