Marianne Weant, Dr.Ph.
In addition to my job at the North Carolina Alliance for Health, I’m also a mom of six kids, all of whom are in North Carolina public schools and regularly eat school meals. A couple of weeks ago, when Wake County Public Schools raised their meal prices, I was asked: can’t you pack lunch more cheaply? And I probably could, if I didn’t account for my time and labor as part of it.
But the bigger truth is you get more than you pay for with school meals. We know a lot about the benefits to the overall school, like improved academic performance, attendance, and behavior, but I think the benefits go deeper than those. I think that participation in the school meal with classmates adds to a more positive school climate.
And I think there are also benefits to individual children like mine. I could pack the bare minimum for sure, but with school meals, I know my kids are getting foods that are low in sodium and high in whole grains. I know they are getting a range of vegetable colors every week, like red/orange and leafy greens. I know that they will be exposed to things I may not usually buy.
I often tell people about my fourth kid. She’s a great eater. In kindergarten, she came home telling me how much she liked the “juicy peaches.” I grocery shop in my house, and I don’t really like peaches, so I just don’t buy them. Or I didn’t buy them. But now I know she likes peaches, the ones canned in juice and fresh ones. Since then, not only do I buy peaches, but she picks peaches in the summer, and we’ve even canned them ourselves.
School meals are so valuable to our schools, our communities, and every kid, and that’s why it’s so important that we make sure every child has access to them at no cost to their families.