Free school lunches also have the benefit that eliminating means testing simplifies administration. "Okay kids everyone line up for lunch" is by far the simplest way to do food for a large group of children in a short timeframe.
Replies
yup - no "oops, forgot my card/payment slip/whatever, guess I'll go hungry" or holding up the queue fiddling about, just "here you go, next".
aug 31, 2025, 8:59 am • 0 0 • view
As someone who absolutely *can* afford to feed my children I'm still getting a massive benefit from it! I don't have to commit any executive function whatsoever to making sure they get lunch. No faffing about with packing lunches, no faffing about with sending money or paying bills. So nice.
aug 31, 2025, 8:17 am • 10 0 • view
Also doesn't shame the children who rely on the free meal!
aug 30, 2025, 3:59 pm • 57 0 • view
And also allows wealthy kids who are being abused to eat.
aug 31, 2025, 7:00 am • 18 0 • view
At every school I've been to it would be really easy to implement, just yoink the payment processor at the end and you're good to go, the schools were getting enough food for all the kids and then some anyways everyday
aug 30, 2025, 4:07 pm • 9 0 • view
A lot of districts do just that because it’s easier and cheaper than means testing, collecting money, maintaining payment systems, and hounding families with lunch debt.
aug 31, 2025, 12:43 pm • 3 0 • view