Far more people on social media support free meals for all public school students than oppose it, 43 percent vs. 3 percent, according to an analysis by Impact Social, an online monitoring company, in collaboration with the food policy publication Food Fix.
The majority — 54 percent — of the nearly 200,000 social media posts on the topic since Jan. 1 were neutral, according to a summary of the research.
Anti-hunger groups have pressed Congress for expansion of child nutrition programs during its post-election session, chiefly by making it easier for schools to use the community eligibility provision. It allows schools in low-income neighborhoods to serve meals for free to all students. Republicans prevailed in a parliamentary showdown last March to require schools to charge for meals again. A package of USDA waivers allowed schools to serve meals for free during the worst of the pandemic. Extending all of the waivers would cost an estimated $11 billion.
“I’ve never seen a Congressional Budget Office score for universal free meals, but I’ve heard the price tag is quite large – large enough that finding an offset to pay for it is prohibitive,” wrote Helena Bottemiller Evich, the editor of Food Fix.
Voters in Colorado approved a statewide referendum on Nov. 8 for universal free school meals, with the $100-million-a-year cost offset by higher taxes on wealthy residents.
“These findings and the successful vote in Colorado reach the same conclusion: Free school meals is a popular issue among voters and can be used strategically in an election,” Impact Social co-founder Phil Snape told Food Fix.
The Impact Social summary is available here.