NEWS
ADJUSTING TO THE FREE LUNCH PROGRAM The logistics and challenges of offering free lunch to all students. JULIET SHEARIN
4 | DESIGNEDBY BY ARNAV VISHWAKARMA
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Like all schools around the nation, Cupertino High School began offering free lunches to students during the 2021-22 school year as a response to the food insecurity sparked by COVID-19. Although hundreds of students on campus have benefited from the meals, the increased volume created a host of logistical challenges. Over the course of the pandemic, food insecurity more than doubled, according to a study by the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge. To combat this, the federal government signed into effect a bill subsidizing schools so that they can offer free meal service year-round. Socioeconomically disadvantaged students — a category that includes 11% of Cupertino High School students — have benefited from free and reduced-price meal services before
PHOTO BY KAVYA KAUSHAL
FUHSD sites typically have multiple serving stations, designated to a certain type of meal to make the serving process more efficient
burden on each school’s food service team. One challenge is monetary: although federal subsidies help with the costs involved in Cupertino High School’s food service, they often do not provide enough funding to offset the real costs TO BE ABLE TO OFFER AN ENTRÉE, of feeding students. FRUIT, VEGETABLE, MILK AND PAY LABOR Said Fremont Union AND PROVIDE PAPER PRODUCTS IN FOUR High School District Food DOLLARS IS AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK. Services Manager Divya DIVYA PURI Puri, “We get four dollars FUHSD FOOD SERVICES MANAGER for every lunch we offer. To be able to offer an enthe bill; now, no students have to wor- trée, fruit, vegetable, milk and pay ry about meal prep or going hungry at labor and provide paper products in four dollars is an impossible task.” school. The lack of revenue from students The federal law addresses an important problem, but it also places a large purchasing meals has also strained
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PHOTO BY KAVYA KAUSHAL
the budget, although not as severely as the drastically increased demand. That demand has had other negative consequences: On the first day of school — and thus the first day of the free meal service — high demand and inadequate line management combined to prevent many students from receiving the meals that were originally on the menu. Strategies like more card readers and staff to move the line more quickly have mitigated the problem, but lines are still significantly longer than they were pre-pandemic. “We’re trying to get kids to move faster, faster, faster — is that
