4 ms·

School lunch programs across the world get setup and perpetuated for a variety of reasons. They also have a variety of funding models. For the US specifically,

School lunch programs across the world get setup and perpetuated for a variety of reasons. They also have a variety of funding models. For the US specifically, major federal programs began during the Great Depression as a two for one combo. It solved the direct problem of... people being poor and their kids not having food/lunch, and it also provided a reasonable supply sink for the government to buy out supply from farmers to help keep things going. Anyhow, since then for a variety of reasons, subsidized/free lunches have stuck around. Primarily because the underlying problem (food insecurity) has not been adequately solved. School lunches also tends to be amongst the more politically palatable/defensible forms of welfare in the United States, since its very structure and beneficiaries make it harder to criticize. So while expansion of SNAP or other programs that might help tackle general food insecurity might run into headwinds, most of those arguments tend to falter when it comes to feeding children directly at school. For example, it's hard to argue that getting free lunches at school would encourage "abuse and malaise" amongst students. Similarly, since the composition of lunches tend to be under control of the supplying organization, there's reduced concern of people spending their assistance on "luxuries".

dredmorbius 1y ago
I'd looked up and read a few articles on the topic whilst AFK after reading GP comment above. Among those: TIME Magazine, "School Lunch in America: An Abbreviated History" <https://time.com/4496771/school-lunch-history/ https://time.com/4496771/school-lunch-history/> Wikipedia, "School meal programs in the United States" <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_meal_programs_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_meal_programs_in_the_Un...> PBS, "The History of School Lunch" <https://www.pbs.org/food/stories/history-school-lunch https://www.pbs.org/food/stories/history-school-lunch> And a 1971 PDF from the US Department of Agriculture (Dept. Ed. hadn't yet been created), "History of the National School Lunch Program" <https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/program-history https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/program-history> [PDF] icegreentea2's summary is brief but accurate. There was some earlier Progressive Era (~1890--1915) work largely at the city level (Boston and Phladelphia), and through volunteers and charities. The Great Depression emphasized the scope of the problem, and WWII raised it to a level of national security (under-fed, malnourished, and poorly-educated children cannot grow to defend the country). The period also parallels growth of secondary (high-school) education from a small fraction of children (~6% of 18-year olds claimed a high school diploma in 1900, that grew to roughly 95% by 1950, where it's largely held since: graduation rates and graduate test scores tend to balance off one another, as one rises the other falls, both are fodder for much political jawboning). Education statistics are presented in "120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrai" published by the US Department of Education (1993) <hhttps://www.google.com/books/edition/120_Years_of_American_Education/wgEFAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=US+Department+of+Education,+120+Years+of+American+Education:+A+Statistical+Portrait&printsec=frontcover https://www.google.com/books/edition/120_Years_of_American_E...>
senectus1 1y ago
fascinating and horrifying.

dredmorbius 1y ago

I'd looked up and read a few articles on the topic whilst AFK after reading GP comment above. Among those: TIME Magazine, "School Lunch in America: An Abbreviated History" <https://time.com/4496771/school-lunch-history/ https://time.com/4496771/school-lunch-history/> Wikipedia, "School meal programs in the United States" <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_meal_programs_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_meal_programs_in_the_Un...> PBS, "The History of School Lunch" <https://www.pbs.org/food/stories/history-school-lunch https://www.pbs.org/food/stories/history-school-lunch> And a 1971 PDF from the US Department of Agriculture (Dept. Ed. hadn't yet been created), "History of the National School Lunch Program" <https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/program-history https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp/program-history> [PDF] icegreentea2's summary is brief but accurate. There was some earlier Progressive Era (~1890--1915) work largely at the city level (Boston and Phladelphia), and through volunteers and charities. The Great Depression emphasized the scope of the problem, and WWII raised it to a level of national security (under-fed, malnourished, and poorly-educated children cannot grow to defend the country). The period also parallels growth of secondary (high-school) education from a small fraction of children (~6% of 18-year olds claimed a high school diploma in 1900, that grew to roughly 95% by 1950, where it's largely held since: graduation rates and graduate test scores tend to balance off one another, as one rises the other falls, both are fodder for much political jawboning). Education statistics are presented in "120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrai" published by the US Department of Education (1993) <hhttps://www.google.com/books/edition/120_Years_of_American_Education/wgEFAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=US+Department+of+Education,+120+Years+of+American+Education:+A+Statistical+Portrait&printsec=frontcover https://www.google.com/books/edition/120_Years_of_American_E...>

senectus1 1y ago

fascinating and horrifying.