Coronavirus: America’s Poorest Children Won’t Get Nutritious Meals With School Cafeterias Closed

School is the place where students educate themselves. While grasping knowledge, they need a break to eat healthy food and then to retain the knowledge efficiently. But what if the student won’t be able to get the food? In America, the poorest children won’t get nutritious meals with schools’ cafeterias as it is closed due to the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

In America, there is a National School Lunch Program which provides students all 3-time meals (breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks) at school. School meals are affordable for all children to stave off hunger and malnutrition; this is ensured by Federal subsidies.
Now the question is what will happen to the poor students who depend only on the school food?
School provides a meal to students, ensuring the consumption of calcium, meat and vegetables and a wide array of essential vitamins and minerals. Though, students waste cafeteria food but still they manage to provide food with a complete diet.
It is essential for poor students whose families will not be able to afford food. At least, they will get approximately a quarter of the calories from the school meals. 18% of U.S. kids whose parents frequently or sometimes can’t afford enough nutritious food for the whole family.
Children’s healthy development is only threatened when there are empty cupboards and missed meals. When kids regularly eat lunch, they’re more likely to finish high school and perhaps go on to college indicated by Research tracking the long-term effects of 1960s-era policy efforts that expanded the National School Lunch Program.
No student pays more than US$2.90 for their lunch, under federal law.
Families whose household income is less than 185% of the poverty line pay up to 40 cents for each meal. Students whose families are of the same size get by or less than 130% of that same mark, or below $34,000, pay nothing at all.
When the school is closed, the kids can take the help of federal, which includes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Who is having trouble getting food on their tables can take help of SNAP’s complex eligibility requirements to exclude many Americans.

By: Suvarna Gupta

Content- http://theconversation.com/americas-poorest-children-wont-get-nutritious-meals-with-school-cafeterias-closed-due-to-the-coronavirus-133341