We are in this for the long run, but right now we are taking a moment to honor the incredible achievements we accomplished this year in the state legislature – and the fact that we did this TOGETHER!

There were many important issues up for consideration this session, but we focused our attention on three key priorities aimed at addressing food insecurity:

1. 1. Food Pantry Grant Assistance Program: We are thrilled to share that just this week, House Bill 1364 passed, so this important program will be funded next year at $3 million. We had asked for an extension of five years to allow for more long-term stability for this critical initiative. This does mean we will need to come back next year, but it also means that emergency food providers and farmers can continue to build partnerships to purchase and provide meat, dairy and fresh produce to people in our communities.
   2. SNAP Outreach: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides nutrition benefits to low-income households and serves as the first line of defense against hunger for many families facing financial crisis. According to the USDA Food and Nutrition Services (FNS), about 40% of low-income Coloradans do not access the program. SNAP Outreach helps to close this gap, and to ensure more Coloradans in need receive the benefits they are entitled to. We sought an increase of $500,000 to maintain current funding levels, since the program has experienced a recent loss of private dollars. We were not able to get the additional funding this year. Temporary measures will ensure SNAP Outreach continues to be funded at near the current  level for FFY 2022-23, but cuts will occur in FFY 2023-24 without additional funds. We will need to go back next year to ensure this does not happen. For now, we are glad that this important outreach will continue, so Coloradans will continue to be able to utilize SNAP to meet the needs of their families.
   3. Healthy School Meals for All: THIS IS THE BIG NEWS WE ARE SO EXCITED TO SHARE! Children need nutritious food to focus in school, stay healthy and support their well-being. Currently, all schools are temporarily able to provide school meals to any child who needs them as part of COVID-19 federal aid, but it is expiring on June 30th. Hunger Free Colorado and our partners set the lofty goal of moving legislation to find a more stable and long-term source of funding – and we did it! House Bill 1414 passed earlier this week.

This means that voters will now have the opportunity to approve a ballot question in the fall to secure stable, long-term funding for healthy school meals, support the ability of schools to purchase healthy and local foods, and increase wages for the workers who prepare and serve meals. The funding for this critical program will be provided by limiting state income tax deductions for the state’s highest earners, people making more than $300,000 a year.

This program would begin to fund meals in the 2023-2024 school year, so we also sought approval of one-time funding for next year.  This was not approved, but we will continue to find other avenues in collaboration with our partners to continue to get kids what they need to be healthy, to learn and to thrive. We should not allow any child to go hungry while they are trying to learn. We must come together to get this ballot measure passed and make this program permanent in our state! 

We are grateful to everyone who shared their story and provided testimony, to the advocates and partners who helped to educate and build support, to anyone who made calls or sent emails, and of course to the lawmakers who championed and voted for our priority policies.

We are excited to ramp up to pass Healthy School Meals for All through the ballot in November and to continue to work with our partners, with lawmakers and with YOU to find innovative and strategic ways to end hunger. Together, we are making a difference – and we will continue to do so! Thank you for being in this with us!

Lunch shaming is a longstanding problem for kids and schools across the country, and it’s high time we stamped it out.  
 
Several schools have gained national media attention when they refused to serve students with depleted lunch account funds — a practice widely known as lunch shaming. While there have been several attempts to ban lunch shaming in Colorado, it remains a complicated issue as student lunch debt rises. 

Cold Lunches

Students that come to school hungry because of insufficient food at home struggle to reach their full potential in the classroom. Access to a nutritious lunch (and breakfast) is a fundamental need for children. This is especially important as national lunch programs cover students from families who struggle to afford food, which amounts to over 6.5 million households in the U.S. The federal government pays the $3.30 cost (of the lunch) for those who earn below 130 percent of the poverty line and a reduced price for those below 185 percent.  
 
Students who fail to pay their lunch debt reportedly receive separate meals which include sandwiches or jelly, as opposed to those who have lunch balances and received a hot meal. Some are forced to wear wristbands or stamps to warn their parents to pick up their lunch tabs. 

Long-term Consequences

The way these reminders are implemented negatively impacts kids’ mental and social well-being, as well as academic performance. In an interview with The Penny Hoarder, Florida child psychologist James Pratt explains that lunch shaming can have long-term consequences and affect the future behavior of a child. Pratt notes that it gets worse as you get to middle and high school students who are often the victims of these practices.  
 
Rebecca Rialon Berry, NYU Langone Health child psychologist, notes that a cold sandwich is the definition of powerlessness, as kids “judge each other by how they look or what they have.” This exacerbates the stigma, embarrassment and shame of coming from a food-insecure household.
In their media release for the key legislation that banned lunch shaming in their districts, California Governor Gavin Newsom notes that children who experience lunch shaming have a higher chance of getting bullied by their peers. So while unintended, these practices result in actions beyond a nudge for parents to pay their lunch balance.

Rebecca Rialon Berry, NYU Langone Health child psychologist, notes that a cold sandwich is the definition of powerlessness, as kids “judge each other by how they look or what they have.” This exacerbates the stigma, embarrassment and shame of coming from a food-insecure household. In their media release for the key legislation that banned lunch shaming in their districts, California Governor Gavin Newsom notes that children who experience  lunch shaming have a higher chance of getting bullied by their peers. So while unintended, these practices result in actions beyond a nudge for parents to pay their lunch balance. 

We Can Do More

Several national politicians and local institutions have moved to completely stamp out lunch shaming, including Rep. Omar Ilhan and Sen. Bernie Sanders. However, a University of Cambridge doctoral candidate, Nikhil Goyal notes that bans on these practices are barely enough to resolve the problem. Goyal proposes that lunch should be free for all students and treated as a government investment in children’s health and well-being. 
 
This year, the Expand Child Nutrition School Lunch Protection Act was passed, which qualifies more lower-income families to eat lunch without an out-of-pocket cost. Private efforts like fundraising and debt canceling donations are also popping up to wipe out school lunch debts. 

Chalkbeat Colorado reports that after banning the lunch shaming practices, lunch debt in Denver public schools soared from $13,000 in 2017 to $356,000. But nearly one-third of these students were eligible for free and reduced lunch, highlighting the importance of getting eligible families to sign up for the program. 
 
Going further, the Colorado Children’s Campaign has launched the Time to Eat initiative. Time to Eat intends to address the issue of children not getting adequate time to eat at lunch. In Colorado alone, at least 63 percent of kids reported receiving only 10 to 20 minutes of lunchtime. This leads to more plate waste, adverse impacts on nutrition, and encourages overeating to a certain degree. While research continues, the campaign is expected to help policymakers and communities address the issues in school cafeterias. 

Specially written for Hunger Free Colorado 
By:  Reese Jones