Proposition FF is one of eleven ballot measures facing Colorado voters during this year鈥檚 midterm elections. The proposition would create new funding for school lunches by adding a tax on Coloradans who make over $300,000 per year. If it passes, it would provide free lunches and other food at all public schools across the state.
There鈥檚 urgency behind Proposition FF because, according to Hunger-Free Colorado, a group working to address food insecurity in the state, food insecurity spiked during the pandemic. The group found that two out of five kids in Colorado are now food insecure.
鈥淚t's not just hunger, but it's food insecurity so that you can't afford healthy food,鈥� says Ashley Wheeland, the Hunger-Free Colorado鈥檚 Public Policy Director. 鈥淵ou can't afford food that's nourishing for your body. You have to cut corners, go junk food. Whatever to survive.鈥�
She says the existing free and reduced-price lunch program isn鈥檛 working. Only 40% of kids who qualify actually participate in it, largely because of stigma.
鈥淎re they going to get in line, and everyone's going to know they're the free and reduced lunch kid?鈥� Wheeland says. 鈥淥r is it that they owe money to the school for meals, and someone is going to remind them of that in the lunch line.鈥�
That stress drives some kids to decide it鈥檚 better to just wait until after school to try to find something to eat. When kids go hungry, there are ripple effects 鈥� for example, it impacts their behavior and their ability to learn.
Danielle Bock, head of nutrition services in the Greeley-Evans School District, says teachers sometimes spend their own money to feed students.
鈥淥ur teachers want to see their students thrive,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey're buying snacks; they're buying food.鈥�
Greeley is the only district in the state that already provides free lunch for all its students. Bock was involved in making that happen and has seen firsthand the difference it can make.
Some opponents of Proposition FF say providing free school lunches will give free food to wealthy students who don鈥檛 need it, and that funding should be used in more targeted ways, like for certain academic programs. But Bock says it鈥檚 great if all kids utilize free lunches.
鈥淲hat we know for certain is that when all students are eating together, all students are succeeding more,鈥� she says. 鈥淣ot dividing our students into the haves and the have-nots is hands down the best way to ensure that our students are nourished and therefore capable of learning.鈥�
She also says they already have clear evidence that providing students free meals effectively eliminates school meal stigma.
鈥淲e saw during the pandemic 鈥� when we were operating under those waivers and feeding all students 鈥� we saw it absolutely disappear literally overnight,鈥� Bock says. 鈥淢y colleagues and I still are astounded by this because we all believed that it would take decades.鈥�
Proposition FF would mean security for families
Lupita Cardoza has seven kids in the Boulder Valley School District, ranging from elementary school all the way up to high school. For her, providing regular, healthy meals for each of them is a major priority.
鈥淚 think of it as a student right,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd as their parents, we have to take care of the students. School is our children鈥檚 second home.鈥�
But making sure that happens can be a challenge, especially at school. During the pandemic, schools offered free lunches, but that program stopped at the beginning of this year. Now, families have to pay for meals once again. Some can qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, depending on their income level. Cardoza鈥檚 family qualifies, for example, but stigma sometimes gets in their way of taking advantage of it.
鈥淢y daughter receives free lunch,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut she鈥檚 afraid to get lunch because she thinks her friends will laugh.鈥�
Cardoza says that means her daughter comes home hungry some days.
鈥淚magine the consequences when a kid doesn鈥檛 eat at school,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 believe food is for everyone at school. Kids shouldn鈥檛 be suffering over food.鈥�
Eliminating stigma and burdens over food insecurity are the reasons for support of Proposition FF, which is on the ballot in the upcoming midterm election. She says the ballot measure will make a big difference in her family鈥檚 life.
鈥淚f this proposition passes, it would mean security for my family more than anything,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f not, there will be inequity.鈥�
With newfound security, she says her and her kids can focus on what鈥檚 important 鈥� their education.
