They get free breakfast and free lunch. And have been since I was in high school. I used to buy my breakfast there for $0.35 after working for a couple hours washing the floors at the local grocery store.
There is no reason for any child to be hungry in this country.
If a child comes to school without a lunch and not have eaten breakfast for say two days straight, the state should put them in foster care. What are food stamps for? Steaks, chips and sodas? A dozen eggs, a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, a can of tuna, a pack of bologna, a jar of mustard and mayo. That is a good meal for 5 days for both breakfast and lunch for a kid. Cost? $12-$15? Add in a box of oatmeal, a little brown sugar, and pancake mix, what are we up to now? $30 for 2-3 weeks? FEED YOUR OWN KIDS people. The best motivator in the entire world is a growling stomach. Oh, and get rid of child labor laws. Allow children to work. I started my paper route after my brother got a job at a grocery store, he handed it off to me. He was 15, I was 10. I started in the store with him twice a week for a few hours when I was 12. My brother who was now 9 began to learn the route. Delivering papers was handed down in our family from 1962 to 1980. We had seven kids in the family, one working parent. You think my mom and dad would have taken food stamps and welfare? NOT A CHANCE. We had to buy our own school annuals. We walked to school, even though my mom could have driven us. She would give us the eye that said, “get on hoofs mare and start movin”. I remember one time I had a school lunch before high school. In HS I had a few but they weren’t as good as homemade. Besides, I had to spend my own money. We got enough for a milk, that was it.
When I was in school, you could get your lunches free but had to work in the cafeteria for them. We didn’t have dishwashers in the school in those days, so, kids had to scrape plates, and wash dishes by hand.