ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — Two bipartisan bills aimed at food scarcity among kids failed to advance in the last legislative session. S1678A/A1941 would provide school meals to all students, and S8781A/A9510A would let schools choose their food providers by considering a wider range of criteria beyond who bid the lowest for the contract.
"One of my top budget priorities last year was universal school meals, and I'm proud of the work we did to expand access for all students, from rural and suburban areas like the ones I represent to city schools across the state," said State Sen. Jake Ashby, a Republican representing the 43rd district. "This would be an investment in student success, and it's about removing an economic hardship from parents and a social one from our students."
A March report from the Food Research & Action Center showed students eating fewer school meals during the school year after special COVID-era funding expired. Kids in New York still went hungry after that expiration because their household income was technically too high.
"In schools without universal meals, a family of four making just $56,000 a year—far below a living wage in New York—is not eligible for free school meals," according to the nonprofit organization Hunger Solutions New York. They argued that abruptly losing access to free food after COVID hurt those kids, reinforcing classist stigma surrounding school meals and damaging school performance.
"Nearly one in six children in our state are struggling with food insecurity,” said Andrés Vives, Executive Director of Hunger Solutions New York.
However, the universal school meals bill, S1678A/A1941, couldn't pass in either house of the legislature after getting stuck in the education committee, despite boasting several cosponsors from both sides of the aisle. But the food service bill did make it through the State Senate, though with a much smaller list of bipartisan cosponsors.
"[S8781A/A9510A], if it gets through the Assembly, gives districts the ability to get food service on a different scale. New York is the only state in the country that says you have to procure your food service on a low-bid-basis," said State Sen. Rob Rolison, a Republican representing the 39th district who cosponsored both bills. "Does it make sense in the area of healthy choices in food?"
He added, "The bill is a good bill because it starts a conversation. If we can't do this, what can we do to fill in this critical gap that we know exists? And the Comptroller's report validates that."
Rolison's referring to Food Insecurity Persists Post-Pandemic, the May analysis from the Office of New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Though overall food insecurity fell since 2012, the report said that about 800,000 of households in New York—10%—felt it between 2019 and 2021.
New York households with kids were one-and-a-half to twice as hungry as households without kids in the past five years. And since 2019, New York saw more SNAP and WIC participants and those households struggled with inflating grocery bills that coincided with the end of the COVID-era enhanced Child Tax Credit, the report said.
No Kid Hungry, an organization working against poverty, polled rural New Yorkers in March to find out that:
These stats underscore the importance of free school meal programs especially in rural communities. In July, the Summer Food Service Program kicked off with the mission of feeding about 400,000 low-income kids at 2,500 sites across New York. The announcement from the State Education Department (NYSED) said they anticipate serving over 20 million free meals.
Sites are found at schools, parks, churches, pools, camps, libraries, farmers’ markets, and museums. Hoping to extend the program's reach, meals can get delivered or bundled together in some areas to make fewer trips. Find your nearest location on the map below:
The program serves healthy meals with the understanding that children do better in school when they're not hungry. They remember more information for longer, have a lower risk of anemia and depression, and are better behaved.
The announcement from NYSED also identified the Summer EBT program as an option for families who don't have enough food. Plus, in July, No Kid Hungry announced almost $150,000 in new grants for summer meal programs to target rural childhood hunger at 11 spots across the state:
“We have a moral obligation to ensure that every child in need has easy and regular access to the kinds of healthy meals that will sustain, power, and energize them all summer long," said NYSED Commissioner Betty A. Rosa.
"It's our responsibility, if you care about others, to help people. We want to see everyone have the chance to eat healthy. To me that's a right that shouldn't be afforded to just some," Rolison agreed. "Hunger is not a partisan issue."
Of course, kids growing up in tough circumstances can fall behind without proper nutrition, but food insecurity is everywhere, per Rolison. "It's not just particular to one block, neighborhood, area, or family," he said.
He highlighted the Meals on Wheels program that helps hungry seniors. Rolison said, "People can help with food drives or food pantries or senior meal programs. There's no shortage of need. If you can do that, you're helping with life.
