Anti-Lunch Shaming: MEA works to help hungry students

Advocacy

Anti-Lunch Shaming:

MEA works to help hungry students “An incident that is all too often observed is when kids do not have money and they have already made a lunch tray. These students are forced to dump their tray in the trash... what sense does that make? We are an impoverished area. Kids come to school for food, warmth and safety and to be denied food is a travesty,” said one Maine teacher. regularly come to school

The stories from MEA members about school lunch practices are both shocking and varied. The policies surrounding school lunch in Maine differ from district to district, but the constant remains the educators’ desire to ensure every hungry child is fed.

“We have had some students told, as a policy, no meals until they are caught up to date on fees,” added another MEA member. These are the types of stories the MEA hopes to prevent in the future with help from several lawmakers, including Republican Senator Joyce Maker from Washington County. Senator Maker is sponsoring a new bill that would ensure every child is fed lunch, regardless of late fees or ability to pay.

“Studies show that missing meals and experiencing hunger can have a negative effect on academic performance and student behavior. No child should ever have the threat of food denial held over his or her head or legislation will help ensure that the nutritional needs of all Maine students are being met,” said Senator Joyce Maker (R-Washington County).

The new legislation, An Act Forbidding Food Shaming, Food Denial and the Use of Food as Discipline Involving Any School-aged Child in Maine's Public Schools:

School Hunger

3 out of 4

educators see students who given a substitute meal because the family owes money or has no money for the meal. Hopefully, this

hungry because they are not getting enough to eat at home.

57%

of teachers regularly buy food for students who come to school hungry.

1.Requires a public school provide free and reduced-price meals or other meals to students who request a meal regardless of their ability to pay 2.Prohibits a public school from punishing a student in certain way solely because of the student’s inability to pay for the school meal or failure in the past to pay. 3.Prohibits a public school from openly identifying or stigmatizing a student who cannot pay for a meal or who has payments due for previous meals by requiring the student to wear a wristband, hand stamp or other identifying mark.

is the amount that teachers

4.Requires the public school to communicate about a student’s meal debts directly to the parent or guardian of the student rather than the student.

The legislation came to light after members raised concerns about lunch issues at MEA’s Representative Assembly. Upon further discussion with members, the MEA brought the issue to Senator Maker who will present the bill in front the Education Committee during the legislative session. The bill is part of MEA’s ongoing effort to bring attention and solutions to the issue of hunger in our schools. If you have

$300

a story you would like to share, (you will remain anonymous) please email editor@maineea.org spend each year buying food for students.

On the National Level by Marit Vike as seen in Education Votes

While educators regularly step up to help hungry children, some lawmakers have also taken notice and decided to step in to right a consequence of not being able to afford food at school: lunch shaming. Currently, there are state policies that force school cafeteria staff to throw out a student’s lunch or give them a weak alternative such as a cheese sandwich when a child has meal debt rather than extending credit for meals.

“It is completely absurd that students would be shamed at school of Pennsylvania, a sponsor of a bipartisan bill, the Anti-Lunch Shaming Act, to prevent lunch shaming. “I am confident that this legislation will do its part to stop students suffering from humiliation for circumstances outside of their control. This is bullying and I am 14 Maine Educator • December 2017 saddened that we have to write legislation to ensure it ends.”

The Anti-Lunch Shaming Act prohibits shaming tactics by requiring schools to direct communications regarding meal debt to the parent, not the child. The bill also aims to make the process for applying for free and reduced price lunch applications simpler by expressing that it is the sense of Congress that schools should provide these applications more effectively to the families who need them, coordinate with other programs to ensure that homeless and foster children are enrolled for free meals, and set up online systems to make paying for meals easier based on their inability to purchase food,” said U.S. Sen. Bob Casey,

for parents when possible.

This bill is in the first stage of the legislative process. It was introduced into Congress on May 8, 2017. It will typically be considered by committee next before it is possibly sent on to the House or Senate as a whole.

Interesting facts and quotes about Association membership and public education in Maine and beyond. Have an idea or stat you want shared? Send it along with your name and local to editor@maineea.org Hunger Problem in Maine

USDA estimates that 16.4 percent of Maine households, or According to the USDA, taking into account margins of error of more than 200,000 individuals, are food insecure, and Maine the State and U.S. estimates, the prevalence of food insecurity is 1st in New England for those experiencing food insecurity. was higher (i.e., statistically significantly higher) than the Maine also ranks third in the nation for the portion of national average in 12 States, including Maine. The MEA will households experiencing “very low food security,” an indication continue to work on ways to ensure students are fed in our that one or more people were hungry at times during the year schools to help decrease the statistics that highlight the hunger because they could not afford enough food. problem in Maine.

Food Insecurity- The USDA defines food insecurity as a state in which “consistent access to adequate food is limited by a lack of money and other resources at times during the year.” Good shorthand terms for food insecurity are “struggling to avoid hunger,” “hungry, or at risk of hunger,” and “hungry, or faced by the threat of hunger.”

37% of Maine’s food insecure population does not qualify for public assistance and must rely on places like food pantries for foodSource: Feeding America

Childhood Hunger

21% or 1 in every 5 children, are food insecure (55,000 children) -1st in New England

Hunger in Our Schools Students Eligilbe for Free/ Reduced Lunch (Public Schools) • Statewide-2015/16: 45.6% • Bangor: 51% • Lewiston: 69.1% • Portland: 55.5% • RSU 10 (Rumford): 68% • RSU 39 (Caribou): 54% • Machias Public Schools: 67.1% • MSAD 35 (Eliot): 15.5%

Source: Maine DOE

Impact of Hunger on Mainers

“You can have the grocery money to go to the store, but not have the gas to get there.” — Middle-aged mother in the Lakes Region

Source: Hunger Pains Widespread food insecurity threatens Maine's future, A collaborative project of Good Shepherd Food Bank and Preble Street

“We are on a strictly tight budget. My other half works…I’m here [at the pantry] every two weeks. I don’t work. I’m disabled. I have three kids, so it’s hard…If we have to skip a bill, we skip a bill, to put food on the table. If that means that Dad and I don’t eat, to make sure our family is provided [for]—as parents, you have to do what’s right for your kids.” — Mother in Kennebec County

“If I’m working as hard as I do, I want to have the right to survive and live instead of going hungry.”- Senior in Hancock County