JALSA Submits Testimony in Support of Universal School Meals

July 17, 2023

Dear Chairs Lewis and Garlick:

The Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA) is a membership-based non-profit organization based in Boston, with thousands of members and supporters statewide. Guided by Jewish teachings and values, we are devoted to the defense of civil rights, the preservation of constitutional liberties, and the passionate pursuit of social, economic, racial, and environmental justice for all people.

JALSA wishes to offer its testimony in strong support of S. 261 / H. 603, An relative to universal school meals.

More than 1 in 5 households with children in Massachusetts are food insecure, with people of color disproportionately impacted. Because the Legislature wisely invested in extending school meal funding through the current school year in the FY23 budget, an additional 80,000 students ate lunch in October of last year compared with October of 2019 – including 30,000 students who previously qualified for free meals but didn’t access them, confirming that eliminating the barrier of stigma increased participation. This vital nutrition support was a lifeline for food insecure households across the Commonwealth.

We know that participation in school meals improves school attendance and academic performance, reduces healthcare costs, and even broadly improves socio-emotional health and behavior. Beyond these imperative quantifiable markers, we also know that feeding hungry kids is the morally right thing to do; to fall short of this critical standard would be unconscionable. For JALSA, this is very much rooted in our faith values.

The Torah, in Leviticus 19:9, specifically instructs farmers: “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field.” The corners of the fields were to be left unharvested so that the poor could eat from them. This is interpreted to mean that we have a perpetual obligation to feed those who are hungry, which will not be satisfied until every person is fully fed. Our faith values demand that we act to provide quality nutrition to all children. We can end childhood hunger in Massachusetts, with your support and leadership.

JALSA strongly urges the members of the Joint Committee on Education to report S. 261 / H. 603, An relative to universal school meals, favorably out of committee.

Sincerely,

Cindy Rowe
Executive Director
Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action