New California Law Guarantees No Students Can Be Lunchshamed Anymore

Oct 18, 2019 by apost team

School lunches are a big deal. An estimated 11 million children live in situations where there isn't enough food. This causes all sorts of problems. Child hunger is linked to developmental delays, behavioral problems, and poor school performance.

Many of these children depend on getting lunches at school. Lately, though, school lunch debt is climbing. According to the School Nutrition Association, the average lunch debt in the United States is $2500 per year. When a child's parents can't afford to pay off the debt, the child can be denied food or given an alternate meal. These alternative meals are often much cheaper and less nutritious. Singling out children who can't afford to pay for lunch has become known as "lunch shaming."

Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, recently signed a law that puts lunch shaming to an end in the Golden State.

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This law guarantees that students will receive a full and nutritious meal for lunch. It also prohibits schools from serving cheaper food to students with lunch debt. The state will reimburse districts for these meals.

Newsom thanked a sweet 10-year-old named Ryan Kyote for bringing attention to the issue. According to People, the boy saved his allowance so that he could donate $74.80 to pay off the lunch debt of his elementary school classmates.

When the governor learned about Ryan's generosity, he met with the boy and promised to sign the bill ending lunch debt shaming. He followed through on that promise.

Ryan's mother is thrilled but thinks that this should only be the beginning. She's hoping that other states will sign similar bills into law. She also hopes that the federal government might step up and enact similar legislation.

What do you think about California's new law? Should other states take similar measures? Let us know in the comments - and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family!