Thousands of New Jersey children will soon lose access to free meals when COVID-19-related funding for the temporary program expires on Sept. 30. Anti-hunger advocates say that for many kids a free school lunch or breakfast is their only nutritious meal of the day. With more research pointing to negative academic and social outcomes associated with food insecurity, they’re ramping up calls for federal leaders to permanently fund universal free meals in public schools.
Erin Comollo, the program development administrator for the New Jersey Healthy Kids Initiative, discusses what the ending of these benefits means in New Jersey.
Chasing the Dream: Poverty and Opportunity in America is a multiplatform public media initiative that provides a deeper understanding of the impact of poverty on American society. Major funding for this initiative is provided by the JPB Foundation. Additional funding is provided by Ford Foundation.
