Proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as “food stamps,” could result in almost 1 million students losing automatic eligibility for free lunch at school, and make it a headache for many who would still be eligible to actually receive it. Though this plan to restrict the eligibility for SNAP was initially floated in July—and was met with an understandable backlash—the Trump administration has now confirmed it’s aware of that possible end result. It’s also, now, allowing a bit more time before it goes into effect.
Mind you, for many low-income or food insecure children, free meals at school are the only reliable nutrition they can access. Free lunches also relieve an enormous mental burden on parents and guardians. In simple terms, the proposed restriction limits the categories by which people can qualify for SNAP. As a baseline, families that qualify for SNAP also qualify for free lunch. It’s been automatic! Makes sense.
Unsurprisingly, the Trump administration is okay with slicing down the pool of people who qualify for SNAP. And in doing so, that means over 3 million people could lose benefits—including kids.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a report that confirms that close to 1 million students (982,000) would no longer automatically qualify for the free lunch program. Half of those children would become eligible for reduced breakfast and lunch, based on their family income level coming in at between 130% and 185% of the federal poverty level. Roughly 40,000 students would have to pay the standard fee (which varies by district) for their meals.
The other half of students would likely continue to qualify for free meals based on their family’s annual household income. A frustration, here, is that for kids who no longer qualify automatically, but potentially do based on family income, parents or guardians would need to apply separately for the free meal program.
All of this confusion adds stress, too. For people who are already fighting for survival, these bizarre and inconsistent qualifications and cutoffs for programs simply create more to worry about. In an interview with ABC News, Lisa Davis of the advocacy group No Kid Hungry, said as much. "We hear from schools all the time about the challenge they have with getting families to understand the paperwork or to get it back," Davis explained to the station.
Which all circles back to an issue we cover frequently at Daily Kos. Again and again, kids and teenagers are shamed in the cafeteria over school lunch “debt.” An understandable question repeats itself: Why doesn’t the student just get a free lunch if paying is an issue? Some students do qualify, but the paperwork is a nightmare. Some families understand the paperwork but don’t have the necessary information—like a permanent address—to fill it out. Some families have inconsistent incomes and don’t know if they qualify. Financial literacy is a barrier, as is language fluency. And of course, because this is the United States, some people are too ashamed to apply for assistance.
At the end of the day, what does all of this lead to? More hungry kids (and people). On the (relative) bright side, the Trump administration is reopening public comments for the next two weeks on this proposed change.