While school meal prices vary throughout the country, a survey conducted by the School Nutrition Association, a trade organization, found that lunches typically cost about $2.83 for elementary school students, $3 for middle school students and $3.05 for high school students.
The prices mean that the $100 million in transaction fees could have bought another 33 million or so school lunches or over 55 million school breakfasts.
“Junk fees on school lunch should not exist.
A handful of states have made universal school meals permanent, but most have returned to the pre-pandemic format.
“School lunch should always be free, and definitely free of judgment,” Fetterman said at the hearing on Wednesday.
Persons:
Tom Vilsack, Sen, Elizabeth Warren, “, ”, Bernie Sanders, ” Warren, NBC News . Sen, John Fetterman, Warren, Sanders, Fetterman, Bob Casey, Debbie Stabenow, Sherrod Brown, Raphael Warnock of, Brian Schatz, —, Marisa Kirk, Epstein, ” Fetterman
Organizations:
Agriculture Department, NBC News, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, School Nutrition Association, NBC News ., USDA, NBC, Sens, Supplemental, Assistance, SNAP
Locations:
Vermont, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Hawaii, Vilsack