Pennsylvania to continue universal free school breakfast program

Free school breakfast will once again be available to Pennsylvania students come fall and a California bill banning certain food dyes in school meals takes another step to becoming law. In addition, at the federal level, likely Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris has announced her running mate, a supporter of universal free school meals.

Here’s the latest in school nutrition legislation.

Pennsylvania to continue free school breakfast program

Pennsylvania students will continue to receive free breakfast at school when they return to classrooms this fall thanks to funding included in the state’s latest budget bill.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro recently signed a $47.6 billion budget bill into law which provides funding to continue offering free school breakfast to public school students. The state has offered free breakfast to students since 2022 and has seen increased school breakfast participation since the program’s inception.  

Democratic Vice President nominee has a history with universal free school meals

Likely Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris has announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. As Governor of Minnesota, Walz has championed universal free school meals and signed a universal free school meals bill into law last year.

In addition, he recently signed SF 4942 into law which earmarks $100,000 to go toward increasing the amount of local ingredients in school meals and early childhood education centers in the state. A portion of that funding will also be used for a farm-to-school grant program. 

California bill that would ban certain dyes takes next step to becoming law

The California Senate Appropriations Committee has voted to send a bill that would ban certain food dyes in school meals to a vote-only Suspense Hearing. If cleared, the bill will move on to the full Senate floor for a vote.

If signed into law, A.B. 2316 would ban six food dyes (Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3) in school meals. Food items sold at school as part of a fundraising event would be omitted from the law.

The bill is sponsored by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel who references a 2021 report by the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) as the reason for introducing the legislation. The report found that consuming synthetic dyes can cause neurobehavior problems in some children.