During the school year in New Jersey, school lunch is provided at a reduced cost or for free to thousands of poor students to help eliminate at least one significant and widely recognized barrier to an education: hunger. The number of students qualifying for free and reduced-price lunches was up about 5 percent nationwide this spring, to nearly 19.4 million from 18.4 million the previous year, according to federal officials. These numbers were reflected in New Jersey's numbers as the number of NJ students receiving free and lower-cost lunches grew by 11 percent to over 340,000 during the 2008-2009 school year.
The economic downturn has left many families barely able to put food on the table, and school meals have been reported as a critical source of family food and nutrition for millions of America's children. But what happens to these children of low-income families when school lets out for the summer--do they just go without breakfast and lunch until September?
Thanks to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Summer Food Service Program, the answer to this question is 'no.' Across the state of New Jersey, camps and food pantries have geared up to meet an increasing need for more feeding locations.
This summer, there will be 14 more locations than last year, for a total of 1,034 feeding locations statewide. One city that is setting a great example with their program is Newark--at more than 30 summer school sites, roughly 7,300 free meals per day will be served to the area's low-income kids. And unlike the lunch program that runs during the school year, there is no income-verification requirement for kids to get a free meal through the summer feeding service.
Key to making this a sustainable program and replicating the model elsewhere, like in New York City and Los Angeles,- is the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act later this year in September. An improved Child Nutrition Act is a top priority for the thousands of school food service workers that SEIU represents.
One crucial element to an improved Child Nutrition Act is improving the lives of New Jersey's public school food service workers, who are struggling to support their own families in very much the same manner the families whose children qualify to receive free meals are.
Poverty wages: A recent report from Rutgers University's Center for Women and Work found that the average hourly wage for food preparation workers in educational services was only $8.15. At the grand sum of $8.15 per hour, working 5 days a week, every week, these workers earn $15,648 a year-with sub-par health coverage, no retirement, no vacation days and no sick days. By comparison, the federal poverty level for a family of three is $17,600. To qualify for free meals in NJ, a family of four must have an income no greater than $28,665.
The low wages a food service worker in New Jersey typically earns can make taking time off--even if they are ill--something of a monetary impossibility, since they don't receive any paid sick leave. These are the same workers who handle the food the state's children consume for two out of three daily meals, five days a week. You can support sick days for our school's food service workers by clicking here.
Learn more at our partner site, the Campaign for Quality Services.
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