“School Lunch Debt” Is a Phrase That Shouldn’t Exist in a Humane Society
Bernie Sanders and Ilhan Omar want schools to abolish “school lunch debt” and feed all children at school free of charge. In a decent society, that would be uncontroversial — yet every Republican and many Democrats haven’t signed on.
Children have a right to eat a good meal before they’re expected to pay attention to their classes.(John Moore / Getty Images)
Bernie Sanders and Ilhan Omar, along with seventeen colleagues in the Senate and seventy-four in the House, have just introduced legislation to “end child hunger in schools by offering free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack to all students, preschool through high school, regardless of income, eliminating all school meal debt, and strengthening local economies by incentivizing local food procurement.”
The Universal Free School Meals Program Act of 2023 would, in other words, make sure that every student is treated the same at the school cafeteria and none of them accumulate “school lunch debt” — a combination of words that wouldn’t exist in a remotely decent society.
If you’re wondering who wouldn’t be in favor of that, a glance at the names missing from the cosponsor list gives you your answer:
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