BRATTLEBORO — Students and their parents at the three Brattleboro elementary schools have been enjoying the new universal free school meals program that started at the beginning of the 2016-17 school year.
This program allows all students to eat breakfast and/or lunch free of charge, regardless of family income.
School officials said in a news release that the move to provide no-cost meals every day has increased meal participation, as students are no longer categorized by income and families no longer need to fill out application forms. Administrators also no longer jeopardize their relationships with parents by chasing school meal debts.
Pattie McNamara, kindergarten teacher at Green Street School, said that since their school started the universal meal program, “I don't have children saying they're hungry anymore, and I used to hear this frequently.”
The Brattleboro Town School District has also made sure that the quality of the food being served went above and beyond the USDA nutritional requirements. Working closely with the food service management company, Fresh Picks Café, a division of Café Services, items containing high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, trans fats, and added sugar were eliminated.
Highly processed foods, including processed meats and mechanically separated chicken, have also been removed. Instead, there has been an increase in whole-grain products and menu options that provide essential fatty acids, important for good health, through things like flax, walnuts, almonds, pumpkin, sunflower and chia seeds.
When possible, according to the news release, the schools use locally or regionally grown and produced foods, “as they are more nutritious and support our local economy.” Last year, the Town School Board approved setting aside additional funds to support these changes.
HungerFreeVT completed research from the initial 30 schools that participated in the universal meals program in the 2014-15 school year, when this model was first allowed by USDA. In the schools that participated, 100 percent of school principals enthusiastically supported the program, citing improved student behavior, improved student health, and improved social interactions among students inside and outside the cafeteria.
Also, of the schools surveyed in the 2015-16 school year, 55 of the 56 schools in Vermont who have gone to universal meals say they have significantly improved their finances, which may mean that they lowered their debt but have not made a profit.
Universal free school meals are made possible by the federal Community Eligibility Provision, which allows schools to do away with the categories of free, reduced, and full-pay school meals, and instead provide any child with a meal regardless of income.
As of the end of 2016, 60 schools in Vermont are taking advantage of their eligibility to offer universal meals through CEP. Eligibility is determined by the school's percentage of students who are directly certified to receive free meals at school.
Students are directly certified when living in a household participating in 3SquaresVT (aka, food stamps), Reach Up (aka, Temporary Assistant to Needy Families), foster care, and other similar designations.
So far, in the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union, only the three Brattleboro elementary schools qualify to participate in this program, based on the number of students who are directly certified.