WHEREAS:
As many as 13.4 million American children experience food insecurity, meaning they live without consistent access to enough nutritious food to live a healthy life, and more than 380,000 U.S. households with children suffered very low food security, meaning that they were hungry, skipped a meal or did not eat for a whole day because there was not enough money for food. Hunger and food insecurity contribute to developmental, health and learning problems in children; and
WHEREAS:
At the same time, 1 in 5 children were obese before the COVID-19 pandemic, four times the childhood obesity rate in the 1970s. Early data show that the pandemic exacerbated surging obesity rates. Childhood obesity causes serious physical, mental health and social problems that continue into adulthood; and
WHEREAS:
School meals play a critical role in addressing food insecurity and childhood obesity and are often more nutritious and healthier than the food students eat outside of school. For some food-insecure students, school lunches may be the only meal they eat that day; and
WHEREAS:
The National School Lunch Program provides meals for more than 28 million children daily, with nearly 20 million of these children receiving free or reduced-price meals; the School Breakfast Program serves almost 15 million children each day, with almost 12 million of these children receiving free or reduced-price breakfast; and
WHEREAS:
The public supports universal school meals, with almost two-thirds of voters nationwide supporting legislation to make free school meals available to all children; and
WHEREAS:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) waivers allowed schools to provide universal free school meals at no charge to all students, no matter their household income. These waivers, which expired in 2022, alleviated the impact of childhood hunger spikes caused by the pandemic and served as a valuable lesson on the importance of providing healthy meals for all students; and
WHEREAS:
USDA recently expanded the availability of the Community Eligibility Provision, which will give an estimated 3,000 more school districts in high-need areas the option to serve breakfast and lunch to all students at no cost; and
WHEREAS:
States are beginning to expand school nutrition programs, including offering permanent universal free school meals to all students in California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico and Vermont. Twenty-six other states have introduced or formed coalitions to propose universal school meals legislation; and
WHEREAS:
The Biden administration has proposed a rule to strengthen nutrition standards for school and other child nutrition programs, including the Child and Adult Food Care Program (CACFP), which helps care providers to serve nutritious meals and snacks to more than 4.2 million children each working day in child care centers, family child care homes and Head Start programs; and
WHEREAS:
These new federal and state programs offer the potential for a wider offering of meals for more students and more scratch cooking by school food service workers and child care providers. However, they could fall short of their potential if school officials turn to private, for-profit food service management companies out of a lack of understanding of the new standards. Moreover, the short timeframe for implementation could have a significant impact on CACFP operators, especially family child care providers; and
WHEREAS:
For-profit food service management companies have a record of depressing wages and benefits for food service workers; failing to save school districts money; withholding rebates and discounts from school districts; offering cheaper, less-healthy food to students; and earning large profits on a federal program intended to benefit children.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That AFSCME supports state legislation guaranteeing universal free school meals, which offers school breakfast and lunch to all children at no charge, and calls on the federal government to implement such a program nationally; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME supports the wide promotion by USDA of the Community Eligibility Provision that allows school districts to offer school meals at no cost to all students; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME supports the improved school and child care nutrition standards and will work with USDA and school and child care nutrition advocates to encourage states and school districts to collaborate with front line food service workers, child care providers and their unions to ensure their successful implementation, with a longer compliance timeframe for family child care providers; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will work to ensure that the new school nutrition standards and expanded programs lead to better meals for children in schools and various child care settings and to better jobs for AFSCME members, rather than an expanded market share and higher profits for food service management companies and vending machine distributors; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
That AFSCME supports the proposed federal Child Care Nutrition Enhancement Act, which would increase reimbursement rates for meals served by family child care homes, child care centers, Head Start programs and after-school programs that feed more than 4.2 million children through the Child and Adult Food Care Program.
SUBMITTED BY:
Lois Carson, President and Delegate
Michael Lang, Vice President and Delegate
Sheila Dawkins-Flinn, Secretary and Delegate
OAPSE/AFSCME Local 4
Ohio