Schools ended universal free lunch. Now meal debt is soaring

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/05/03/ [login to see] /schools-ended-universal-free-lunch-now-meal-debt-is-soaring
Pat Broz has been serving meals to students in the Mehlville School District outside of St. Louis for almost 30 years. On a recent day at Oakville Elementary School, the kindergarteners sliding trays toward the register were all dressed up for school pictures. She complimented their outfits as she rang up their lunches.

Yet this year, Broz said fewer students have been coming through her line compared to when in-school meals were free for all students for two school years during the pandemic.

"There was a lot more kids," she said. "Everybody wanted breakfast and lunch."

Her observation bears out in national data. When meals were free last year, schools served more than 80 million more meals compared to the year before the pandemic.