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I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

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Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#191

Post by sitkack »

llm_nerd wrote: post #141
andreicap wrote: post #25

My poor country (Moldova) just implemented free lunches for kids in primary and middle schools. What is the reason US doesn’t have this already at federal level?

My rich country that is often accused of "socialism" (Canada) has no real lunch program at any school level. Kids pack and bring their own lunch, though a lot of high schools have a bespoke cafeteria where you can buy some fries or a burger, it operates more like a restaurant than a meal plan, and elementary/middle schools don't have kitchens at all. With four kids I've made a lot of lunches over the years. More rece…

I am in the states, my elementary school had excellent cooked food, the middle school was slightly less good, but it had a great salad bar.

High school was like eating at a truck stop. But it did have a salad bar that was excellent, although myself and Lisa Simpson were the only students that used it.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#193

Post by okanat »

compootr wrote: post #145
boxed wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same reason they have expensive university, extremely expensive healthcare, for profit prisons, etc, I guess. There's a dog-eat-dog mentality over there which is quite puzzling to us Europeans.

> mentality individualism; I think people in our crazy state of states tend to be only interested in what they want, and no other interests

Europe has quite a bit individualism too. Maybe even more when people can freely express themselves without judgment, you know.

But to have individualism for everybody, everybody needs to eat and have a dignified life.

Cutting less lucky people's food and healthcare for penny pinching, or worse religiously followed ideology isn't individualism. It is sadist selfishness. It kills individuality of large swaths of people for a tiny minority's extravagant and boringly repetitive habits.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#194

Post by lesuorac »

senectus1 wrote: post #184
bombcar wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US has discovered that there's a substantial portion of the population (which for this could be 1%, 10%, 20% whatever) who is really bad at raising kids, basically. If the school doesn't provide lunch, the kids would simply not eat any lunch. So they provide lunches, because it's easier than handling the fallout from some kids not eating, etc. As a child I never had "provided lunch" but I also went to private sch…

>The US has discovered that there's a substantial portion of the population (which for this could be 1%, 10%, 20% whatever) who is really bad at raising kids, basically. I'm a center-lefty, but America appears to be mostly right and I find it fascinating that this is just "accepted". Why does America just accept that some (a large enough number that most schools have to feed them) people cant raise their kids?

Are you going to require people get a license to procreate?

Or perhaps are you saying that the government should provide a nanny to everybody that can't raise their kid?

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#195

Post by fortran77 »

creer wrote: post #178
SSJPython wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only people that do this are ones that have no understanding of marginal tax rates and progressive taxation.

> no understanding of marginal tax rates and progressive taxation. Which is how some parts of US taxation works, but not other parts. You seem to be in one part, and unaware of the rest. (And is a mix of taxation and other "eligibility" issues, with poorly advertised massive cliffs here and there for extra helpfulness).

There may be some cases--if a person is on the edge of being eligible for SNAP, or for SSDI for a dependent adult in their houshold, where getting a raise might actually make them poorer. It's wrong to say people do this because they're too stupid to know about marginal tax rates.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#196

Post by brundolf »

Many people, especially in our subculture, tend to feel like if they can't solve an entire problem forever, if they can't Change The World, what they're doing is futile and pointless

But most people can't change the world. Most individuals shouldn't have the power to change the world. What we can do is be a force for good in the lives that are proximal to us. If we can make a few people's lives better, we should rest easy knowing that we've done our part.

If we can do more than that, then great. But never let the overwhelming hugeness of the entire world cripple your ability to make your little dent. Most people only get the chance to make a little dent - if that - and there's nothing wrong with that.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#198

Post by gensym »

atonse wrote: post #186
andreicap wrote: post #25

My poor country (Moldova) just implemented free lunches for kids in primary and middle schools. What is the reason US doesn’t have this already at federal level?

In the US, schools are managed at the state level, not the federal level. There are occasional grants given to states to run certain school programs, but states really run the show. Which is why I'm actually not sure why certain states don't do this. Like richer states like Maryland, Virginia, New York, California.

California did recently start doing this, and some other states are following suit. https://frac.org/wp-content/uploads/HSMFA-Report-2024.pdf

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#199

Post by dzdt »

tantalor wrote: post #60
M3L0NM4N wrote: post #4

Is the overhead in deciding who gets free lunch and who doesn't and then managing the debt really saving more money than just giving all public school kids free lunches with no strings attached?

Pittsburgh Public Schools started doing this (free breakfast & lunch) in 2014: https://www.pghschools.org/departments/food-services/free-me... This program replaces free & reduced-price lunch for qualifying kids, with "free for everybody". They directly cite reasons like increased participation and better service (faster lines). It also cuts down on administrative overhead (don't need to separately qualify each kid).…

Indeed universal free lunch programs are on the chopping block. To my understanding the cuts are still at the proposal stage though.

[1] https://www.chalkbeat.org/2025/03/12/house-republican-budget...

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#200

Post by toomuchtodo »

brundolf wrote: post #196

Many people, especially in our subculture, tend to feel like if they can't solve an entire problem forever, if they can't Change The World, what they're doing is futile and pointless But most people can't change the world. Most individuals shouldn't have the power to change the world. What we can do is be a force for good in the lives that are proximal to us. If we can make a few people's lives better, we should rest…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star_Thrower
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