1/23/23
The number of students eating lunch at school has fallen from 30 million in May -- before federal waivers enabling universal meals expired -- to 27.4 million in October. "The income eligibility guidelines are just not keeping pace with inflation, and families are barely making ends meet," said Gay Anderson, child nutrition coordinator for the Sioux Falls School District in South Dakota. "So what we're seeing is a lot of people are saying, 'I can't believe I don't qualify as I always did.'"