Hidden hunger is a growing problem in Utah schools, with many children facing financial barriers to obtaining nutritious meals. While free and reduced-price lunch programs exist, a significant number of eligible families choose not to participate due to embarrassment and stigma. A new bill aims to address this issue by increasing the number of families who qualify for free lunches and removing the identification of students receiving assistance.
A student lunch of homemade pizza and Caesar salad is placed on a tray at the Albert D. Lawton Intermediate School, in Essex Junction, Vt., Thursday, June 9, 2022. Kids going hungry in Utah’s schools. It’s happening more than many people think. Advocates say many kids and their parents are too embarrassed to take part in their school’s lunch assistance program.
Some lawmakers are pushing for a new bill to go through the legislative session this year that could hopefully reduce the stigma of getting a free lunch. Why wouldn’t someone accept a free or cheap meal? Some experts say there could be language barriers that get in the way, or literacy issues that prevent people from taking advantage of the program. However, they also say, for too many families, it’s just embarrassing to ask for help. Salvia Miramontes was a cafeteria worker for 18 years in the Salt Lake City School District. She’s seen instances of kids being told they don’t have enough money in their accounts to pay for their lunch. “When they put in the lunch number, the computer would tell us they don’t have money, so we can grab the meal and say, ‘Go to the office and go and get money.’ Sometimes, they get embarrassed,” she says.Miramontes says, “They can keep themselves, like, in the classroom or they can pull out of the line and go sit down because they know they don’t have money.” Despite how hard educators try to keep a child’s family’s economic status a secret, Miramontes says the other students find out what’s happening.Problems like this are happening all over Utah. “We were actually in Beaver and we learned about a girl who had been eating dog food because her family didn’t have enough money. We were up in Logan, and there was a kid who is a student athlete who was back in the dumpster, dumpster-diving for pizza and eating food there. There was a kid in Granite School District, a principal found him putting mashed potatoes in his pocket to take home to his little sister because she didn’t have enough to eat,” says The Policy Project President Emily Bell McCormick. “It becomes pretty shocking when you find out that there are a number of kids that really lack access to food.”Utah schools still struggle with millions in lunch debt as lawmakers push for reliefAccording to McCormick, the number of families that need either free or reduced-price lunch is growing, and many of those families seem to “poor.” “We’ve all felt that pinch in the last four or five years where the housing costs have gone up, the inflation has been crazy and these families just can’t quite get through,” she says. Utahns Against Hunger Child Nutrition Advocate Neil Rickard says, “A lot of the people who got hit by inflation are people you wouldn’t traditionally thought of as being at-risk for food insecurity. There are people that have been visiting food banks who are nominally middle-class people.” According to Rickard, the latest numbers show 200 thousand families in Utah qualify for either free or reduced-price lunch, and they estimate 10 thousand students are enrolled in the program but not taking those meals. Rickard says there are other reasons why families don’t take advantage of this program, and embarrassment is not the only factor. He says, “Very Few People are going to out-and-out say that, but it’s definitely something that we know exists. There are people who just have a principled opposition to, as they see it, receiving help. But, another more common case that you’re going to see are people of mixed-immigration statuses. They might want to participate in the program, but they don’t realize that their kids are entitled to the program, regardless of their citizenship status.” House District 60 Representative Tyler Clancy says schools used to put free or reduced-price lunches on different colored trays, or students would wear a button that said they qualified for help with lunch. However, his bill, HB 100 is designed to prevent kids from being identified as receiving this kind of assistance. “So, what we’re doing is that we’re making sure that if someone is on a free or reduced lunch program, that’s between the family and the school, directly,” he says. Plus, the bill would increase the number of families who can get free lunches. He says this would help the families that might not look poor, but are having a hard time paying their grocery bills.Clancy also says his bill is really designed to help people deal with the rising cost of food. He says there are places in San Juan County where the price of a meal has gone up by 40 percent
FOOD INSECURITY SCHOOL LUNCH HUNGER SOCIAL SERVICES UTAH LEGISLATURE
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Utah State wide receiver Otto Tia transfers to UtahUtes get another offensive playmakers during this cycle
Read more »
N.J. Man Accused of Sexting Utah Girl Remains Jailed in UtahA 45-year-old man from New Jersey, Paul T. Carroll, is facing charges in Utah for allegedly sexting with a minor. He is currently in custody in Cache County, Utah, while awaiting trial. Carroll was extradited from New Jersey and faces charges of seducing/luring a minor by internet or text and dealing in materials harmful to a minor.
Read more »
The Utah Checkdown podcast: Utah football's plan comes into viewUtah football held a press conference with Kyle Whittingham, Morgan Scalley and Jason Beck earlier this week.
Read more »
Utah Jazz Trade Rumors: Who's Staying, Who's Going?The Utah Jazz are expected to be active participants in the trade market, with several players rumored to be on the move. This article explores the likelihood of key players like Jordan Clarkson and John Collins being traded before the deadline.
Read more »
TikTok knew livestreams exploited kids — but turned a blind eye and 'profited significantly': Utah suitMany children were then allegedly “groomed” by adults to perform sexual acts, sometimes involving nudity, in exchange for virtual gifts.
Read more »
Beat the Winter Blues: 7 Indoor Activities for Kids in Utah ValleyStruggling with cabin fever this winter? Utah County offers a wealth of amazing kid-friendly indoor destinations perfect for curious minds and active bodies. From museums to kid-friendly activities and adventures, here are seven of the best local picks for indoor fun in Utah Valley this winter.
Read more »