Alexandra Stamm

On June 25, the Michigan League for Public Policy joined up with advocates from the American Heart Association and Healthy School Meals for All Coalition at the state Capitol for an important advocacy day.

We arrived in large numbers to urge the Legislature to continue including free school meals in the fiscal year 2026 School Aid budget. We greeted members of the House and Senate with hand-delivered paper lunch bags filled with stories from across the state about the benefits of providing school meals for all students. The bags were filled with nothing else but air to further make clear that kids will go hungry without school meals.

The lunch bag stories included “thank yous” from many different perspectives: children who come from families with low incomes shared that with free school meals, they can learn in their classrooms without going hungry; administrators wrote stories about how giving all kids access to the same meals has created a more inclusive environment in their schools; and middle-class families expressed relief that their grocery bills are lower during the school year at a time when food costs continue to climb.

We know these stories are true because we have seen them play out in the data since Michigan’s School Meals program was introduced in the fiscal year 2024 state budget. There has been a 31% increase in kids eating breakfast and a 25% increase in kids eating lunch at school, and families are saving an estimated $850 per student each school year on their grocery bills.

I spoke with a rising senior at a local high school who said he appreciates the change he has seen at his school since all students have been provided access to free meals. “I remember back in elementary school there used to be a stigma around kids getting free school lunch. It created a divide and class system that’s now completely gone.” Upon hearing the news that school lunches for all students might not be provided next school year, he responded with an emphatic groan, resounding “no,” and “I can’t pack my own lunch again!”

Since our day at the Capitol, little progress has been made on the state budgets, but school meals for all has remained a hot topic in advocacy circles and in budget negotiations. While both the governor and the Senate included funding for school meals in their budgets, the House eliminated the line item for school meals in its budget. Instead, the House budget “rolled up” the funds for programs, including school meals, supports for English language learners, career and technical education, literacy coaches, mental health supports, and more into one lump sum to be equally distributed throughout the state. Moving to this type of funding structure not only eliminates the requirement that schools use funds for these programs, but it reduces the equity in funding distribution that rural schools rely on to meet the unique needs of their students and puts kids at risk of not being able to access free school meals anymore.

While budget negotiations drag on, students and parents are celebrating the beginning of a new school year. On the other hand, school administrators are beginning to question how much funding they will receive and for what programs.

Alpena Public Schools has communicated with parents about the budget uncertainty and the possibility of school meals for all students ending, urging parents to fill out the required paperwork to qualify for free meals should the program cease. The importance of providing school meals for all students in the 2026 state budget is even more critical after the passage of the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Due to tax changes in the bill, an estimated 18 million students could lose access to free school meals nationwide. Cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will cost about 74,000 Michiganders their benefits, and cuts to Medicaid puts health care coverage for more than 500,000 people at risk.

Times are about to get tougher for many rural Michiganders. The household income in The Alpena News readership area is 21-31% below the state average. Families will be forced to decide whether to get prescriptions filled or pay utilities. Food insecurity will grow. Students will be less healthy and hungrier, making attending and succeeding in school more difficult. If putting breakfast and lunch in front of our children at school every day supports their health and educational attainment (leading to higher outcomes later in life), putting universal school meals in the state budget is a win for all of us.

At the League, we love to remind people that the budget is a reflection of our state’s priorities. Let’s make sure that kids don’t go hungry, schools continue to be inclusive and families aren’t forced to bear the cost of legislative inaction. We will be watching the budget closely and keeping you up to date at www.mlpp.org.