Families brace for possible end of universal free school meals

The program, initially introduced in March 2020 as the pandemic began, was not included in the $1.5 trillion spending bill passed by the Senate last week.

Against all the odds, Meighen Lovelace pulled off a feat sure to impress any parent: convincing her adolescent girls to adore broccoli.

For Lovelace, a single mother of two in Eagle County, Colorado, it was a hard-fought, decadeslong battle. Through mornings of at-home gardening, afternoons of hands-on chopping, and evenings of homemade pizza baking, her girls came to love fresh vegetables. And even as budgets tightened during the pandemic—Lovelace said she was fired from her job waiting black-tie banquet tables at a Vail ski resort when the lifts shut down—she relied on school meals to ensure her daughters remained nourished and full.

But with universal free meal programs set to expire in June, Lovelace fears what the future holds. If that happens, she expects her grocery budget to double—something her current gig in a barbeque food truck will be hard-pressed to support. She anticipates relying on food banks to ensure there's enough to go around.

"This isn't forever but it is right now," Lovelace said, "without school [meals], I don't really know what right now is going to look like."