Washington seeks additional funding for universal free school meals

Washington state is looking for extra funding to continue its universal free meals program and the School Nutrition Association advocates for a school nutrition practitioner to be included on the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.

Here’s the latest in School Nutrition Legislation. 

Washington Universal School Meals program needs extra funding 

This school year, just under 800,000 students in Washington state are receiving free school breakfast and lunch each day thanks to HB 1238 which was passed in 2023. 

Under the bill, schools where at least 40% of the student body are eligible for the federal free and reduced meal program began offering free breakfast and lunch to all students starting in the 2023-24 school year. 

This school year, the bill expands universal free school meal access by requiring schools where at least 30% of the student body are eligible for the federal free and reduced meal program to also begin offering free breakfast and lunch to all students. 

The program has proven to be more costly than anticipated due to the cost of school meals going up and higher numbers of students participating in the program than expected. As a result, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction announced it is requesting $17.6 million per year in the state’s 2025–27 Biennial Operating budget to help cover the cost of providing meals to students for free at school. 

Washington is not the only state dealing with higher-than-expected costs to provide universal free school meals. Minnesota lawmakers recently approved additional state funding to continue its universal free school meals program after more kids participated than anticipated.

School Nutrition Association wants school nutrition practitioner to be on Dietary Guideline Committee 

The School Nutrition Association (SNA) has penned a letter to the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) asking for a school nutrition practitioner to be included on the Committee 

The DGAC is currently in the middle of updating its Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The updated guidelines will serve as the blueprint for future changes to the U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDA) School Nutrition Standards, which regulate things like whole grains and sodium in school meals. 

In the letter, the SNA says that a school nutrition practitioner will provide insight on the challenges school nutritional professionals face daily and can help construct dietary guidelines that are achievable for school nutrition professionals to follow. 

“The DGAs must be based on sound science - peer-reviewed, published research specific to the age group, with a sufficient sample size - especially as it applies to school aged children,” the letter states. “But to be successful, the DGAs must also be achievable for short-staffed school meal programs operating on tight budgets, and customizable to the diversity of tastes and cultural preferences of the 50 million students reached by school nutrition programs.” 

School nutrition operators are currently at the start of implementing the latest updates to the school nutrition standards which were based on the 2020-25 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. These updated standards include changes to sodium limits, added sugar restrictions and more.