Vermont has become the 4th state in the nation to make school breakfast free for all low-income students. As part of the state budget that passed on May 3rd, the legislature extended free breakfast to the 7,500 students eligible for reduced price meals. Schools report that these students often go without breakfast because they do not have the 70 cents to pay for both breakfast and lunch. The expanded free breakfast program will go into effect with the beginning of the school year in September. A family of 4 that qualifies for reduced price meals makes between $26,845 and $38,203. “With food prices going up much faster than wages, we need to make full use of every resource available to ensure that vulnerable Vermonters don’t go hungry,” says Dorigen Keeney, Director of Policy and Research at the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger. “We should feed children wherever they are in their day – whether at child care, in school, in summer programs, or at home. To do so means to encourage eligible Vermonters to apply for food stamps; to set up summer nutrition programs for kids; to assist child care centers and homes to provide meals; and make sure families know about the new free breakfast program. These programs nourish hungry Vermonters and bring dollars into our local economy.”

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