This commentary is by Anore Horton of South Burlington, executive director of Hunger Free Vermont, and Bradley Tusk of New York City, a venture capitalist and political strategist who was campaign manager for former New York mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg. He founded Tusk Philanthropies, which funds legislative campaigns in states to expand access to food assistance.
The holidays have begun, and while the debate over the Build Back Better pie continues, we need to remember that there are kids all over the country who will get no pie at all this holiday season.
Amid the twists and turns, tight margins, and delayed votes on Capitol Hill making headlines, one thing remains true: American families need for things to get better. And on the simplest level, that looks like helping families meet their basic needs, including making sure their children don’t go hungry.
In Vermont, food insecurity increased by one-third during the pandemic. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter Welch know that’s a problem. It’s why they sponsored and cosponsored Senate and House bills, respectively, to make universal school meals permanent nationwide.
After seeing the impact universal free school breakfast and lunch (extended by the USDA as part of pandemic emergency food assistance measures) is having to help Vermont families, they understand that universal school meals is a common-sense policy.
That’s not the first time Vermont has led on the issue of child hunger. Along with many other partners, we worked to move a bill through the state Senate that would make Vermont the first in the nation to provide free breakfast to all public school students. On the docket for the next state legislative session: See a bill for permanent universal school meals over the finish line. If passed, it would go a long way to ending hunger for the more than 40,000 low-income children in Vermont’s schools. How it’s funded depends on negotiations happening right now on the Hill.
Significant funding to expand the community eligibility provision is on the line. If kept in the Build Back Better bill, the funding would make school meals available to every child who needs one. In Vermont, the cost to feed all kids in school would be cut in half, and maybe more. The child nutrition provisions in Build Back Better would also help families cover the extra costs of food for their kids all summer long.
We are counting on Vermont’s congressional delegation to hold the line, keep leading, and keep child hunger and the possibility of ending it front and center in Washington. That means not just keeping the community eligibility provision intact, but also holding firm on meaningful funding that makes a difference.
To the public, it seems lawmakers right now are focused on the fights. But ending child hunger is popular in rural areas, suburban areas, and urban areas. It can be a bipartisan win that makes a profound difference in the daily lives of families across Vermont and across the country.
Importantly, we know it works. We’ve already been feeding all kids in K-12 public schools due to pandemic measures. We’ve seen how efficient it is because it gets food straight into children’s mouths without questions asked, stigma, application forms or poverty tests.
Studies have shown that students with greater food security have higher retention and better attendance, graduation rates and academic performance. Future college graduates are much more likely to be employed and make economic contributions to their local communities.
Take New York City, which has adopted a citywide universal school meals policy: Test scores are rising, stigma is decreasing, and there’s overall a better environment for students as a result.
When Congress passes something, whatever that may be — keep the community eligibility provision in there, robustly fund it, and make it meaningful because ending child hunger is a straightforward, critical win. It’s the win American families need right now. Everyone can agree.
