It improves educational, health etc outcomes significantly and unlike a lot of proposed interventions in education, it has solid scientific evidence backing it

It improves educational, health etc outcomes significantly and unlike a lot of proposed interventions in education, it has solid scientific evidence backing it up. Specifically it significantly improves child health (e.g. fewer hospital visits), improves maths and English test scores, lowers the incidence of suspensions of students, and there's no evidence that free school lunch policies increase BMI in those with access to them. For the cost, it is a very effective intervention in improving educational outcomes. https://www.jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(23)00301-5/fulltext https://www.jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(23)00301-5/ful... https://www.brookings.edu/articles/schoolwide-free-meal-programs-fuel-better-classroom-outcomes-for-students/ https://www.brookings.edu/articles/schoolwide-free-meal-prog... https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pam.22175 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pam.22175