GREENFIELD— U.S. Representative James McGovern (D-MA) introduced legislation on March 6 to permanently increase the federal reimbursement for school meals.

“This is one piece of the puzzle, but it is an important piece,” McGovern said in a phone interview with the Recorder. 

His bill, H.R. 1269 “The Healthy Meals Help Kids Learn Act,” would raise the federal reimbursement level for all free, reduced-price, and paid-rate school meals by 45 cents for every lunch served and 28 cents for every breakfast served, with yearly adjustments. 

During the Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health that the White House hosted in September of 2022 legislators made a plan to address the issues of food insecurity and nutrition insecurity across the nation. A conference in Washington like this had not been hosted for more than 50 years. 

Among the issues they discussed were school meal reimbursements. With McGovern being a nationwide leader on this issue of hunger, he is now putting forth many bills to address the plans made at the conference. 

“This bill will help the district, particularly because it is rural and isolated, to have good breakfast and lunch options,” Matthew Ehrenworth, superintendent of Athol-Royalston Regional School District, said in an interview. 

In the Recorder’s interview with McGovern, he explained that the bill will provide flexibility to school districts to allow schools to make individual changes to better provide nutritious meals to students. 

Some examples of what schools can do with the reimbursements is have more purchasing power to buy food from local farms. Schools can also use the funds to upgrade kitchens to be able to have adequate facilities to prepare better meals. Another idea suggested is to provide children with backpacks filled with healthy food to take home during breaks and weekends. 

“The more reimbursements we get the higher quality food we can serve,” Ehrenworth said. 

Amy Proietti, Greenfield School Committee chair, said the free food programs in the district are extremely popular. She explained the district has done more outreach programs, including their summer eats kick-off event and hosted food trucks, to provide families with adequate food they need. “We would absolutely support universal meals,” Proietti said. 

McGovern said that increasing the federal reimbursements for food in schools is one step closer to larger goals of food insecurity and poverty reduction.

He is an advocate for universal free meals in schools for all students. He is working with the state Healey-Driscoll Administration as well as the federal Biden-Harris Administration to make universal meals a reality. 

“We need to raise the minimum wage so we don't need these programs,” McGovern continued. He said with this program he hopes to increase benefits for food workers in school districts, but also hopes to increase the minimum wage overall so families can afford to pay for food as costs rise across the country. 

“I support him and his endeavors to fight food insecurities. This is a great step in the right direction,” Ehrenworth said. 

While not comprehensive, McGovern explained issues of reimbursements in schools are a common issue he sees across his district and the country that he hopes this bill will mitigate. 

“I believe food is a human right. This is one step toward that. We need to fight every inch until we end hunger,” McGovern said. 

Bella Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579  or blevavi@recorder.com

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