Food for thought: Ways to counter student hunger

It seems that for many of our disadvantaged public school students, the search for knowledge and a healthy meal traverse a parallel course.

And that quest for a reliable food source doesn’t cease after high school, it graduates with those needy students who pursue a college education.

Secondary and post-secondary remedies for the state’s student hunger problem are at different stages of the legislative process.

The practice of “lunch shaming,” when a school cafeteria worker deprives students of a hot lunch if they can’t pay, could soon be put on permanent suspension.

A bill that would eliminate the practice — and also the banning of students from extracurricular activities over lunch debt — now sits on Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk.

“We want to make this an adult-only conversation,” said Patricia Baker, senior policy advocate at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. “No parent wants their child put in the middle of any kind of debt, or used to embarrass them in front of their peers with unpaid meal debt.”

We can’t conceive of any educator promoting this bait-and- switch lunch tactic as the most effective way to collect a debt.

It defies any degree of sensitivity to circumstances not of a student’s making.

In an effort to eliminate similar situations in the future, the bill would also require schools in which over 60% of students’ families are eligible for free meals to offer that option for all students, regardless of income, through the use of federal funds.

Currently, more than 100 districts in the state participate in this program at either the district or school level, according to Project Bread.

Baker had until Oct. 16 to sign the bill, though it’s not publicly known whether he supports it.

While the immediate termination of withholding lunch is a no-brainer, the rollout of free meals for every student in low-income school districts requires further review.

While commendable, the funding source deserves more study to ensure that it’s sustainable.

In fact, there’s ample time to re-examine all aspects of this bill.

Thanks to an extension of a U. S. Department of Agriculture program, all publicschool students nationwide can receive free meals through next summer.