By Lilli Blount and Ava Hentz
“When lunch was free there was a sense of anonymity that was attached because no one cared about personalized lunches: everyone was eating the same thing,” said sophomore Sara Chang reflecting on the fact that student lunches are no longer free for all Barrington High School students.
BHS has gone through some important changes this year as the school returns to a state of normalcy after two years of pandemic restrictions, including remote learning and mandatory mask-wearing. One of these changes that may easily be overlooked is that most students are back to buying lunch at school.
But not everything is back to “normal” in the cafeteria.
“The food hasn’t gotten better,” claimed sophomore Emery Parish, “but we’re now paying for the same quality meals as last year.”
Last year, the federal government decided to put a plan in place to keep public school lunches free throughout the country due to the pandemic. Many families struggled to keep up with inflation and shortages during COVID, so this was one less thing that they had to worry about. This initiative expired over the summer, so now lunches at BHS, once again, cost $3.10.
Still, some students suggest the return of paying for lunch has created some social stigma and even argue that the options and amount of food that is provided is not always enough for one meal.
Rhode Island Community Food Bank CEO Andrew Schiff agrees with these concerns, telling WJAR Channel 10 news in August: “The program has been criticized in the past for separating students based on their parents’ income,” something Schiff worries will once again lead to bullying and lunch shaming.
“The school service directors would have to chase down parents for the fees, and when they couldn’t, they had to deny the kid’s lunch,” he said. “The only folks that end up being hurt in this whole thing are the kids.”
There are still programs in place in Rhode Island to help kids and their families who qualify for free or reduced lunches if needed. And Principal Chris Ashley along with district administrators “encourage all families to complete the application to see if they qualify.”
The application is available on the school website under “Families - Lunch Program.”
Still, some states have taken it upon themselves to keep school lunches free for longer.
Massachusetts was the fifth state to decide to keep cafeteria food free this school year, according to Project Bread, a food charity organization. Lunch participation was 42.3% higher in March 2022 than three years prior, with 53,744 more students in the state eating school lunch.
Other New England states have seen similar statistics as Vermont is also using extra funding to continue the free lunch program for another year. Maine has also made free school meals a permanent fixture in their steps to ensure student health and welllness.
Rhode Island, however, along with a majority of states, has not followed suit, but the question of whether it's necessary or not is most definitely up for debate.