An elementary school student in the Kenai Peninsula asked her teacher this question recently, just before a long weekend. For this girl and her younger brother, one of the most important things that school provided them was reliable breakfast and lunch.
Congress created the School Lunch Program in 1946 "as a measure of national security" because too many young men were unfit for military service due to malnutrition. The School Breakfast Program was piloted in 1966 and made permanent in 1975. The experience of the Kenai girl, and many others besides, shows that these programs are still vitally needed.
Schools are not required to offer meals, although the federal government provides reimbursement for meals for low income children. Forty percent of Alaska students -- more than 45,000 children -- qualify for free or reduced cost school meals.
Despite the huge geographic and logistic challenges they face, to their credit most schools in Alaska offer lunch. In all, there are 10 school districts educating 1,698 students in Alaska that do not offer the lunch program.
However, breakfast is more of a challenge. One hundred four Alaska schools and eight school districts that offer lunch do not offer breakfast. In total, 15 percent of the students who qualify for free/reduced price school meals do not attend schools that offer a breakfast program -- that's more than 7,000 missed meals each day, more than 1.2 million a year.
Why doesn't every Alaska school offer breakfast and lunch? They cannot afford it. The federal reimbursement is too low to make it economical for schools that serve too few children overall, or too few low income children, or face high food costs because of their remote locations.
Our kids need these meals. While I suspect we would all agree that parents should feed their children, some simply can't. According to Hunger in America 2010, 74,000 Alaskans seek food assistance each year. A significant percentage of these households include children younger than 18.
Children who have breakfast at school attend school more regularly, perform better on standardized tests, pay better attention, and perform better in math and reading. They are less likely to be disruptive or violent, and are less likely to struggle with obesity. In other words, meals at school encourage kids to concentrate on the business of learning, even older children.
On the other hand, teens who are hungry are more likely to be suspended from school, to have difficulty getting along with others, and to have fewer friends. The schools know this, which is why even many schools who don't offer breakfast regularly still manage to offer breakfast during testing week.
The Alaska Senate is currently considering whether to provide state funds to match federal funds for school meals -- which will make it more economical to provide school meals. To me this is a very straightforward decision that we can make, one that will directly impact the health and education of our children. We should make such a reasonable investment in our children's future, and help give every child the best chance to succeed in school. I am sure that the young girl on the Kenai would agree. Please encourage your legislators to support SB 213 -- for the children and their academic future.
Michael Sobocinski is a board member of the Food Bank of Alaska.
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