New York: Governor Hochul Protects Free School Meals, With About 2.5 Million Meals Served Each School Day
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on October 27 that New York State will continue to fully fund its universal free school meals program despite the Trump administration's nationwide cuts to federal food assistance, protecting approximately 2.5 million free school meals per school day and helping families save up to $1,600 per child per year on groceries.
The universal free school meals program, enacted by Hochul last year, covers 2.7 million students statewide: every school district, charter school and nonpublic school participating in the national school lunch and breakfast programs must provide free breakfast and lunch to all students regardless of family income. In this year's FY27 Enacted Budget, Hochul secured a $395 million statewide investment in the program, an increase of $55 million over the previous fiscal year. State officials estimate schools have already served approximately 75 million free meals since the school year began in September.
The Governor's Office said new reports show other states facing declines in free school meal participation because of federal cuts and changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) under HR 1, but that New York's increased funding means no school in the state will receive less money for free meals because of the federal cuts. Children in households participating in SNAP and Medicaid are directly certified for free meals, and other families can still apply.
"It's shameful that President Trump and Washington Republicans are trying to take free school meals away from our kids, and that's why I took action to ensure kids across New York won't lose access to the free school meals they rely on," Hochul said. "While Trump keeps finding new ways to raise costs for hardworking families, I'll never stop fighting to protect our kids and help New Yorkers keep more money in their pockets." Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas and State Senator Michelle Hinchey also praised the full funding, saying the program fights child hunger while easing families' grocery bills.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 学校午餐（资料图）。美国农业部公共领域照片，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / A school lunch (file photo). U.S. Department of Agriculture public domain photo, via Wikimedia Commons.
