1 in 6 Arizona children face hunger, millions of US students owe food debt
They hadn’t eaten all day. The reason? They didn’t have money for lunch.
I attend Mica Mountain High School. I was chatting with my friend when they said they were hungry. They didn’t eat the whole day because they attend school in one of the only countries where children have student lunch debt.
More than 226,000 children are facing food insecurity in Arizona, many of them searching for affordable and accessible food.
These children must often turn to schools to access the majority of their meals.
During the COVID pandemic, many people struggled to make ends meet. This led to a boom of families facing food insecurity.
As a response, Congress enacted the Universal Schools Meals Program. This gave free school lunches to all public U.S. students. Food insecure students were now able to eat meals without stressing about the price.
In 2022, many schools discontinued free lunches. This meant that some students didn’t have access to free meals, and now had to pay.
Free and reduced meals are available for most students in low income brackets, but many food insecure students still don’t qualify for meals. According to the Educational Data Initiative in Arizona, nearly 70,000 children are food insecure yet don’t qualify for federal assistance.
Arizona students with food debt have an average balance of $170. For people working at the average hourly wage in Arizona, it would take nearly seven hours to pay off the debt.
The U.S. has 1.54 million children who owe $19 million in school lunch debt.
The problem is not limited to high school students. At The University of Arizona, students are fortunate to have an alternative resource: the Campus Pantry.
“If they’re not eating, they’re not going to be good college students,” said Bridgette Riebe, senior coordinator of the U of A’s pantry.
Children need food to fuel their body and brains. School lunches should be affordable and accessible. Young students should not face debt for taking care of a survival need.
