Local food organization reacts to school lunch bill

NORTH MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - Last Friday Governor Tim Walz signed a bill into law giving children in Minnesota schools access to breakfast and lunch free of charge.

Back home, community groups are planning out what this means for school children in the local area. Feeding Our Communities Partners is the organization responsible for the Backpack Food Program, which aims to give local schoolchildren access to food year round. The organization says that they’re elated by the bill’s passing, and hope the bill will put a dent in the ongoing problem of hungry children.

”We’re in the business of keeping kids fed, so when stomachs are full that’s only a really really great thing, for FOCP, but for those students, for those classrooms and just really allowing kids to reach their full potential,” said Lori Wollmuth of FOCP.

FOCP says that while the passing of the bill should lessen the burden on many families, the fight isn’t over. The organization says that many of the meals they provide go to students during weekends and school breaks, when kids won’t have access to the provided school lunches.

They say that while the bill passing as good news, they don’t expect demand for the Backpack Food Program to see any decline.

”I think inflation has still really hit families hard and food prices are still really high. What this program will do, though, is it’s going to mean that there’s a barrier that’s been removed for kids to access food,” Wollmuth added.

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