Hunger Free Colorado staff in front of the Capitol on Lobby Day

This May, staff from Hunger Free Colorado headed to Washington D.C. for the National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference, co-sponsored by the Food Research & Action Center and Feeding America.

At the conference, we had the opportunity to connect with passionate individuals from organizations across the country that are dedicated to ending hunger in their communities. The conference offered a variety of informational sessions and panels around legislative best practices and innovative advocacy methods to help fight hunger.

Our Community Organizer, Erika Cervantes, was a featured speaker on the panel for Healthy School Meals for All. During the discussion, she shared the effective organizing practices Colorado implemented that led to the successful passage of Prop FF: Healthy School Meals for All last November.

“We centered equity primarily by meeting people where they’re at,” Cervantes said. “We put boots on the ground, knocked on doors, and talked to folks in communities to directly inform them about the initiative.”

Erika Cervantes after the Healthy School Meals for All panel

As other advocacy groups continue to push for the adoption of universal school meal policies in their states, Cervantes emphasized the importance of prioritizing community involvement: “This came from community speaking up,” she stated. “The community knows what  the community needs.”

After the conference, Hunger Free Colorado staff headed to Capitol Hill to speak with the legislative aides of some of Colorado’s most prominent lawmakers, including Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and Representatives Doug Lamborn and Diana DeGette. Our advocates advised them to support: childhood nutrition on a national level, a Farm Bill that that ensures SNAP benefits meet peoples’ nutritional needs and are accessible to all; and removing time limits on SNAP benefits that are conditional on meeting strict work requirements for working-age adults without dependents.

In addition, they offered guidance to lawmakers, urging them to safeguard SNAP during the current debt limit negotiations and warned against potential compromises that could harm SNAP and other crucial programs that provide essential support to low-income households.

Despite the ongoing expressions of support from numerous Colorado legislators for preserving SNAP benefits and expanding accessibility to crucial food resources, the journey towards achieving food sovereignty in our nation is ongoing. Nevertheless, Hunger Free Colorado remains steadfast in our pursuit of ending hunger, working diligently at both state and national levels to advance this vital cause.

• Many students who need it are not eligible 
• Students who do qualify may face shaming, bullying and even debt 

However, it’s still been a helpful program to make sure students have access to a healthy meal each school day, helping students concentrate and improve academically. 

School Meals Became Universal During the Pandemic 

During the pandemic, it became obvious that families were getting hit hard with food insecurity, or lack of access to healthy food. Helpful programs like Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) were created to fight this by covering the cost of lost school meals. Another incredible change was that school lunches temporarily became “universal”, meaning that any child could get a school meal. 

Communities have shared that this works better than the old tiered system of free, reduced-price, and paid lunches. By allowing all students to access meals without needing to apply, Healthy School Meals for All is a program that supports student well-being, reduces administrative costs, eliminates lunch debt, and removes shame and stigma from the lunchroom. 

We Want This to Continue Beyond the Pandemic 

If programs are working, let’s make sure they become permanent so we can continue improving school meals and making Colorado a great place for our students. 

Jessica Wright from Nourish Colorado says, “Every child deserves access to a meal while they are required to be in school. Eliminating the need to collect meal applications will free up time for our school meal programs to better meet the needs of their student population and it also provides their parents the opportunities to direct their limited time and resources towards supporting their child in other ways.” 

Healthy School Meals for All is an investment in children’s education — just like textbooks are a given part of school, food is part of the learning process as well.

Hunger Free Colorado and many across Colorado are supporting SB22-087, a bill that will continue healthy meals for all public school students. We ask that you support this, too! 

How can you take action? 

If you want to help make this happen, join our coalition today and receive email updates on the bill and ways to support! 

Join the coalition here: HSMA Coalition Sign Up or reach out directly to your legislators here: Get Healthy School Meals for All through the Senate!