4. Eating every day might be a struggle
The National School Lunch Program provides free and reduced-price school lunches for lower-income students at about 100,000 schools around the country. If a student is from a household with an income “at or below 130 percent of the poverty line,” they qualify for free lunch. If that student is from a household between 130 and 185 percent, they qualify for reduced-price meals. Anything else—even at 186 percent—the government basically says, “Tough luck. Pay full price.”
For those students on the cusp, eating lunch every day isn’t a guarantee. Thanks to the efforts of nonprofits like No Kid Hungry and School Lunch Fairy, there’s been some progress made toward ensuring every student can have food on their lunch tray. Still, collectively, the goal is a long, long way off.
