New data shows impact of universal school meals

On the first day of school at Hoover Elementary in Coon Rapids, Gov. Tim Walz and Education Commissioner Willie Jett donned aprons and plastic gloves and stood in the cafeteria before a line of elementary students.

“Do you want orange chicken?” Walz asked a student before spooning a serving of lunch onto his plate.

The governor, a former teacher, has said the state’s universal school meals program, which he signed into law in 2023, is one of the proudest accomplishments of his eight-year tenure.

“I think this, coupled with the education funding and the child tax credit — probably as a package — are the things that I would rather be remembered [for],” Walz told journalists at Hoover.

Schools across the state started offering free breakfasts and lunches to all students in the fall of 2023. Now, three years later, a trio of studies from the University of Minnesota and nonprofit advocacy organization The Food Group offers more data on how the program is having an impact.

“It’s, without question, in my opinion, really, really helpful for families and students and parents alike expressing relief about not having the cost of meals being a factor,” said Leah Gardner, policy director at The Food Group.

“But that doesn’t mean the program’s perfect,” Gardner added.

More students are eating

The number of students eating school lunch went up 15 percent the first year of the universal school meals program. The number of kids eating breakfast at school went up 40 percent.

That’s according to the Minnesota Department of Education, which has also been tracking the cost of the program. The state has steadily increased its spending on school meals — from $277 million in 2024 to an estimated $306 million in 2026.

“Early on, we saw that the cost was a little more than it really projected,” Walz told journalists earlier this month.

“I think what it showed was there … was a lot of folks that were just barely above that line where they could get it, and they just weren’t eating because of that,” Walz said.

Gardner’s study, which included survey results from hundreds of Minnesota students, found evidence that supported the governor’s hunch.

Before free school meals, 34 percent of students who didn’t qualify for free or reduced-price lunch had to skip meals. The numbers were even higher for Black and Indigenous students and other students of color, 70 percent of whom skipped meals before they were offered at no cost.

“We talked to … students who were dealing with stress, anxiety about when they would go through the line if there was going to be money in their account or not,” Gardner said.

“We had a young person share a story about just pretending not to be hungry because he knew his mom couldn’t pay, and if that bill was added to her plate, she would not be eating,” Gardner added. “Our young people were not nearly as oblivious about the cost of meals as I think some people would like to think.”

And it’s not just that students are no longer going hungry. Introducing universal school meals has also reduced stigma in school cafeterias.

“Students are talking about it. They do notice it, and they feel much better all being together and eating together,” Gardner said. “They also talked about having more energy and being able to concentrate better because of being able to get enough [food].”

A ‘huge relief’ for families

Free school meals have also helped families’ household budgets. The state education department estimates the program has saved families a total of $1,000 per year per student.

Gardner’s survey found 51 percent of families are worrying less about household budgets thanks to the program. And 60 percent of families are having easier mornings getting their students to school on time because they don’t have to pack lunches and make breakfasts at home.

“We’re able to make this a reality right at the time that we’ve seen the cost of food grow substantially,” Gardner said. “It’s a huge relief financially, mentally and, also, parents attributed that their kids were showing up to school on time as a result and they felt [they were] doing better in school.”

Bailey Jordan, who lives in Minneapolis, has a fourth grade student. She said school breakfast has taken a significant amount of stress out of her hectic mornings. It’s also helped her daughter in other ways.

“She now became a breakfast eater. She wasn’t before,” Jordan said. “It’s very important, not only to fuel her body for the day, but so she can get into that routine. And then her friends join her, too. So not only is she getting that meal, but she’s eating with her friends and starting the day out that way.”

School staff say the program and a higher volume of kids in their cafeterias has been good for their budgets. That financial stability is making it easier to get healthier, higher-quality food into the cafeteria.

“Being able to invest more in locally sourced foods is, of course then also beneficial for the economy and the tastiness of the meals,” Gardner said.

In the Moorhead Public School District, nutrition services director Ashley Schneider said the program has helped her department get out of financial crisis and invest in more livable staff wages and equipment, like knives and food processors that help her kitchen teams make more food from scratch.

They’ve had some hits and also some misses.

“Some things are a huge flop,” Schneider said. “We tried meatloaf and they were just like, ‘What is this?’”

But among their successes are sambusas and a new crop of students who love brussels sprouts.

“Our kids are obsessed with brussels sprouts,” Schneider said. “A parent went to a local Facebook group and said that she was just super impressed, because when her student came home from school and she asked what they wanted for dinner that week, the student replied and said they wanted brussels sprouts like they get at school.”

Schneider credits the universal meals program with giving her department the financial stability it’s needed to keep expanding its offerings and investing more in scratch cooking.

“With that guaranteed kind of payment from every meal that we provide, we are able to collect on that. That helps us to then operate and actually have money to be able to do things,” Schneider said. “We are able to now invest back into our kitchens.”

But Minnesota’s universal school meals program has also introduced new challenges. The cost of the program is rising for the state. And an increase in school meal programs has made for new logistical challenges.

“When all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Bam! Now we have many more students eating’ … well, lines got long,” Gardner said. “That is something that’s come up as a barrier.”

Longer lines in cafeterias mean students have less time to eat — feedback that came through loud and clear when researchers asked students about their experience with school meals.

Gardner also believes her research has shown schools can do better about offering kids food they want to eat.

“It’s always a joy to talk to our young people because there’s just, like, brutal honesty,” Gardner said. “Our youth have a lot to say about what food they want.”

In the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school district, nutrition services coordinator Spencer Fisher said his department tries to use that brutal honesty to its advantage. They’ve set up what they call a “kitchen cabinet,” which is a panel of students that meets regularly to sample and advise on new menu items. Their work has resulted in some popular new cafeteria offerings like locally sourced apples, fresh-baked breakfast croissants, pumpkin-spice muffins, scrambled egg bowls, cheese curds, a charcuterie of fresh vegetables and ramen with spiced meat and bok choy.

“That’s the other thing with caretaking for students is giving students options,” Fisher said. “When students have options to choose from, they’re going to choose what they’re going to eat rather than being handed something that they don’t want.”

Fisher and Gardner believe Minnesota’s universal meals program will continue to give school lunch workers the resources and time they need to keep making cafeteria food healthier and more delicious as time goes on.

“With the increase in meal participation, it gives us opportunities to think differently about what school lunch is and how we can engage students even more,” Fisher said.

“The change that the staff on the front line has experienced is a renewed sense of pride and ownership of what they’re producing,” Fisher added, “The work we do really allows other people to do the important work that they need to do.”