[ ]we should make school meals available to all students as an integral part of the school day – without additional charge – like all other school services [ ]instead of allowing less nutritious foods to creep back into school meals as the USDA has proposed(34), we should provide more funding to enable schools to serve higher quality meals USDA reimbursement rates for school lunch did not cover the full costs of meals before the pandemic(27) Since March 2020 when schools began closing to reduce the spread of the virus, the USDA has approved waivers allowing schools to safely distribute meals to children(35) According to a survey of school nutrition directors conducted in May, nearly all (99·4 %) have continued to provide school lunch(36)
School meals matter: federal policy can improve children’s nutrition and health (Jia et al. 2020)