What is Healthy School Meals for All?
In 2022, Colorado became a national leader in child nutrition through the passage of Proposition FF: Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA), with resounding support from voters. HSMA allows schools participating in the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs to offer breakfast and lunch to students at no cost and invests in quality local food, technical assistance to support schools in providing more from-scratch meals, and higher wages for cafeteria workers.
Healthy School Meals for All has been a huge success in its first year. 100% of eligible districts opted in to the program, and meal participation is up more than 30% across the board, demonstrating both the need for this program and the excitement around it. Students, parents, educators, and other community partners are reporting that Healthy School Meals for All has already made a measurable difference in reducing stigma and ensuring that students get their nutritional needs met, while easing the financial burden on families throughout the state.
Take Action to support this program.
How Healthy School Meals for All helps Students and Families
Healthy School Meals for All is an investment in the health and public education of children. Students experiencing hunger tend to struggle academically and are more prone to behavioral problems and emotional, mental, and physical health issues. Research shows that access to school meals positively affects students’ health and attendance, reduces disciplinary infractions, and increases test scores among marginalized groups of students. By ensuring students have access to healthy, nutritious meals during the school day, HSMA is contributing to the health, well-being, and academic success of more young Coloradans.
The program also promotes inclusivity and dignity by eliminating the stigma and shame associated with receiving free school meals or having meal debt.
“It’s been incredibly personally healing to see how universal meals has really equalized school meals and allowed all students to access them without stigma. I would watch a whole class come down for breakfast together or a whole class line up for lunch, and it literally brought me to tears to see how universal meals changed the culture of school meals.” – Colorado food service employee
So far, Healthy School Meals for all participation has been higher than expected, with a 36% increase in school breakfasts and 31% increase in school lunches, demonstrating the popularity and effectiveness of the program. High participation demonstrates the need for this support in the midst of a cost of living crisis in this state and shows the immense value the program brings to communities as they navigate higher food costs.
Healthy School Meals for All is making it more affordable to raise kids in Colorado. Based on current meal prices, the program will save Colorado families more than $1,250 per child each year. The program helps families struggling with the rising cost of living by eliminating the need for them to choose between buying school meals and covering other essential household expenses.
How Healthy School Meals for All helps Workers and Farmers
Additional program components to improve meal quality while benefiting local agriculture and workers go into place in the 2024/2025 school year. A series of grant programs will yield further improvments for families and for our state by strengthening Colorado’s agricultural economy, providing resources for schools to provide higher quality meals, and helping schools hire and retain the food service staff they need amidst workforce shortages, ultimately strengthening our food systems. These key components of the policy endorsed by voters are a vital step in continued successful program implementation.
These four pillars are why Colorado’s universal school meal policy is the most comprehensive in the nation.
Local Purchasing Grants
School districts will be eligible to receive grants to purchase food from Colorado farmers and ranchers, creating a new pipeline from local food to institutions that centers community needs.
The agricultural community is already mobilizing to pave the way for this opportunity. The transformational potential of these programs was a key focus of a recent Food Summit that brought together more than 700 agricultural stakeholders that are already working hard to build a robust farm-to-school pipeline in preparation for these funds.
Wage Boost Grants
School districts will be eligible to receive grants to boost wages and benefits for front-line cafeteria workers, improving the work environment for these critical nutrition staff.
A wage boost for cafeteria workers is both long overdue and critical to help school districts hire and retain the food service staff they need in the midst of workforce shortages and the increase in meals distributed.
Parent and Student Advisory Committees
These committees give decision-making power to students and parents to advise their district on food selection to ensure meals are culturally relevant, healthy and appealing.
Colorado is the first state in the nation to establish these committees, providing a unique opportunity to set a new transformational standard for the country.
Technical Assistance Grants
School districts and food system organizations will be able to apply for grants to support equipment needs, from-scratch cooking and the development of local food systems.
The technical assistance investments will be crucial to supporting school nutrition departments, farmers, and ranchers in successfully transitioning to more of the local, from-scratch foods our communities want in their cafeterias.
Support for Healthy School Meals for All is High Across the Board
4 of 5 (80%) Coloradans are favorable toward the Healthy School Meals for All Program, cutting across party lines
The majority of voters (62%) said they’re more likely to vote for a candidate that supports fully funding Healthy School Meals for All
Coloradans also overwhelmingly want the state legislature to fund each part of the program (73%, or more than 3 to 1 in support of full funding)
Support for funding Colorado-grown food products and for fresher meals exceeds 80 percent.
All stats from polling conducted by Keating Research.
What You Can Do
Please join us in advocating to lawmakers to make sure they know the importance of HSMA and how the program is benefiting their constituents and community. Share how HSMA is impacting you and your community and ask your CO Senator and Representative to support the program so it can continue to benefit our students, educational institutions, agricultural producers, and school meals workers!
Take Action at bit.ly/HSMAROCKS
Sign up here to learn about updates and opportunities to support Healthy School Meals for All.
For questionsor more information, please contact Anya Rose at anya@hungerfreecolorado.org.
National impact of Healthy School Meals for All
The passage of Prop FF last November made Colorado the third state in the country to guarantee healthy school meals for all public school children. Since then, momentum around universal school meals has continued to build across the nation with 5 other states passing similar programs in 2023. Right now, dozens of other states are also discussing or pursuing legislation around free school meals. Hunger Free Colorado is proud to be part of a program that is setting national precedent.