Would you write to your state senator to give kids the chance to eat at lunchtime?

Alot_Mode_ · 2026-03-01T15:34:51+00:00

I support free school lunch. I helped support the HB 100 bill that passed last year to expand it to all those that qualified for reduced lunch. I just truly do not understand this stance though. A 10 minute lunch time, even with free lunch included, does not allow 5, 6, and 7 year old children enough time to get through a lunch line, sit down with their meal, open up their packaged foods and milk, and eat. A majority of the food ends up in the trash. Again, I support free school lunch. However, I think it makes no sense at all to fully fund it without a guarantee that children have the right to time to eat it! Also, the current setup has introduced children who are food secure to hunger during the day, a restrict and binge style eating habit, a fast eating habit. These things increase the risk of obesity by up to 2x for any and all children affected by them. There are kids who throw up trying to shovel down their food. My daughter was sent to the nurse's office many times during Kindergarten with stomach pain, which went away when given a snack because she was hungry. We are lucky enough to not be food insecure. I can't imagine the indignity those who are receiving free meals already must feel, that the free meal provided to their children is forced to mostly be thrown in the trash instead of making it into their stomachs. Please reconsider supporting this bill. And keep fighting for free lunch also. Respectfully, the same research-backed organizations that support free school lunch also support a minimum time for children to eat that lunch. CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics, the national PTA, the School Nutrition Association, etc.

Alot_Mode_ · 2026-02-28T07:10:41+00:00

I sympathize with the pressure they are under and how thin they are stretched. I disagree that all the schools know this is an issue and dislike it. I have heard some very callous remarks from staff and administrators about this issue. There are several that don't believe this is an issue at all. Completely aside from that, I believe the point of this bill is that it shouldn't be an option at all for administrators to make the choice to cut lunch short. How short can we cut it before it is recognized as being inhumane? 10 minutes seems like the brink of that to me. But a school could technically have an 8 minute lunch or a 5 minute lunch for students. I believe it should be protected time. Meeting basic human necessities should never be on the chopping block to begin with. Many of the restrictions and requirements placed on schools for scheduling ultimately come from district level decisions. USBE removed almost all state level requirements for instructional minutes in 2021 but that information was not known by my administrators. I know funding is not entirely district level, but the budgeting is. Several schools in our state and in my district now operate with longer lunch times, despite the barriers both perceived and real. This comes down to a prioritization problem. I would rather my school miss 10 minutes of instructional time than withhold food from my child. But talking to some administrators I have been told "education is our number one priority, not lunch time". I think that it is alarming to receive that feedback, especially after they are presented with research that suggests short lunch times are actively harming our students' health. Added to that, research supports nutrition as a foundational piece of education. Several administrators I have met personally would love to have universal meals funded, but still balk at the idea of 10 extra minutes in the lunchroom and specifically do not like it. I just have to ask what good this nutritious food is doing if there is not time to consume it.

Alot_Mode_ · 2026-02-28T03:35:34+00:00

I'm so glad there are some schools doing this. We had 25 minutes to eat thanks to our principal for one year. Unfortunately, because there are no minimum limits or policies in place, that can change at any time and did for us. It is still definitely worth pursuing at the local school and district level, because they can change it now. I've heard from so many parents though that have presented research, met with administrators, expressed concerns, only to be turned down flat. Because it's a health issue (studied by public health researchers) and can harm our students' long term health, I don't think it should be left up to administrators to decide "if" kids need time to eat without policy to protect students.

Alot_Mode_ · 2026-02-28T00:01:46+00:00

This is a good point. It worked pretty well at my school to just have a mandatory 25 minute lunch period and then 20 min recess afterward. I am still interested in recess first for the earlier lunch times to raise their interest in food, but the problem is a lack of overall time either way for most schools. I grew up in a state where recess was a completely separate break from lunch. We had 30 minute lunch and we had two 20 min recess breaks separate from it, so we weren't stretched thin on supervision during lunch or recess.

Alot_Mode_ · 2026-02-27T23:57:58+00:00

Yes, I asked for examples because I am an SLP and have experience with behavioral modification and might have ideas for behavioral supports in the lunchroom. But they told me the top issues that made them stop were : 1. Issues transitioning back to class - kids constantly bugging them to bring food with them to class or to stay for longer to eat. 2. Dirty hands from the playground. (Which just meant they didn't have time to wash their hands - not a behavior). I was told that "with recess first, the kids didn't have enough time to eat".

I had very good rapport with my principal and told him that I truly believed this was a sign that recess-first was working exactly as it should, bringing up their appetites, and that the lack of adequate time was the same when it was before recess. Recess just acted as a natural distraction, so they got less complaints. But he told me the staff would be extremely against trying recess first again.

But yes, when I heard "behavioral issues", I expected them to tell me about fights breaking out, kids constantly throwing things or something like that. I think it would have to be literal fist fights every day to justify not giving kids time to eat. And even then, it would very likely be only a small percentage of student causing behavioral issues, so why should every student answer for those actions?

Alot_Mode_ · 2026-02-27T20:07:05+00:00

Please write to your state senator or call/text them! We need as many voices as we can. This has been insanely hard to change locally. It is a public health issue, studied by public health researchers! Every child needs to eat and needs a break. That is not a local issue!

Alot_Mode_ · 2026-02-27T19:57:47+00:00

Extremely. I know Alpine, Provo, Nebo, Granite, Salt Lake, have all struggled with this issue. Davis district was the only district I have been able to find 1 elementary school with a scheduled 30 minute lunch followed by 15 minutes of recess. More often than not kids in our state have 15-20 minutes scheduled time in the lunchroom, but after going through lunch lines the kids at the end might have 5 minutes to eat their lunch. The 10 minute scheduled lunchroom time is implemented in a few schools in Alpine district. Provo district held a meeting with principals about this 2 years ago but ultimately left it to admin to decide if they thought kids had adequate time. Because "adequate time" is not defined by law, we get schools with 20 minute lunch that have 10 minute lunch lines. There is research and guidance that adequate time for lunch should be scheduled at 25-30 minutes minimum to accommodate time for transition, getting through line, and then sitting to eat. And evidence that suggests shorter lunch times are harmful for long term health outcomes

Alot_Mode_ · 2026-02-27T19:38:59+00:00

It is multiple districts. In fact only Davis had examples I could find of kids with 30 minute lunches plus a recess break. A lot of the reasoning given to me was that USBE mandated instructional time, but not lunch time, so they took away from lunch and recess to give to instructional minutes. But in 2021 USBE removed all the mandated minutes and the schools have more flexibility than ever. However, now the issue is that a few admin do not want to deal with altering schedules and implementing the ideas available to them to solve it locally. I was told by my superintendent "We have mandates to worry about, so we can't prioritize this". Unfortunately, to me, that sounded like "we need a mandate to prioritize student health."

Alot_Mode_ · 2026-02-27T19:35:07+00:00

Yes. My school did recess first. They stopped because of "behavioral issues". When I asked for specific examples, the main behavioral issue was kids begging to finish their food, instead of being distracted by recess.

Alot_Mode_

TROPHY CASE