Children not getting breakfast

[popeyespappy]

My significant other works in a US public school cafeteria and the stories she comes home with are heart breaking. Shit like first graders asking for extra portions so they can take it home to their hungry younger siblings. This isn't some inner city shit hole either. It's a relatively new school in a affluent suburb with a very high percentage of professionals. The school is considered one of the best primary schools in the state. Despite that 20-25% percent of the students are on free or reduced price lunches. Every Friday school staff is sending the poorest of kids home with pop tarts and instant soup so the kids have something to eat over the weekend. After school, weekend and summer programs are more concerned with making sure the kids get something to eat than about academics.

According to the USDA the National School Lunch Program provides free and reduced cost meals to more than 30 million children daily. Two out of every three meals US public schools serve are free or reduced cost. A study that I have linked to before links poverty directly to poor performance in US schools. It found that if you only count test scores from US schools with 10% or less of the students on free or reduced lunches the test scores of US students go straight to the top in every category when compared to those of kids from other countries.

Yes, poverty is a big fucking problem for children in the US.