School lunches traditionally inspire some eye-rolling from kids, but at least parents grasped the good news last week. Things are about to get better for students — food- and cost-wise — enrolled in the state’s 257 public schools.
For starters, at least for the near term, meals will be Opens in a new tabfree Opens in a new tab. The costs of the breakfasts and lunches that the Department of Education (DOE) bears will be repaid by a federal grant for the entire 2021-2022 school year.
This provision comes to schools nationwide thanks to a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs the subsidized school meal program. The idea is to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission to children by eliminating the lining up at the cashier to make payment.
Many students will not have a vaccine available for some time — none has yet been approved for children under age 12 — so it makes sense to create a safer environment here. Further, some have observed that it’s cheaper to deliver lunch this way than to package meals for socially distanced consumption, anyway, so this can be considered just one more pandemic-related cost.
The COVID-19 global crisis has illuminated many societal needs here, including the struggles of local farmers who suffered losses in the tourism industry shutdown. That impetus may have provided a needed push for closer links between schools and local farms.
Earlier this month the governor signed House Bill 767, which shifted the Hawaii Farm to School Program from the state Agriculture Department to the Education Department.
More importantly, it sets a programmatic goal for the DOE to ensure that, by 2030, at least 30% of food served in public schools should consist of locally sourced products. It directs that the program be headed by a coordinator who would “take reasonable steps to incorporate more agriculture and nutrition education in schools.” There are no dedicated funds for it, so circling back for a progress report in January will be key.
But it’s a start. Even after the free-meal waiver ends next year, the new farm-to-school emphasis in the DOE could help reduce the growing food insecurity for Hawaii’s children, providing meals that are nutritious and — yes, kids — delicious, too.
