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California Becomes First State To Offer Free School Breakfast And Lunch To All Students

July 2, 2021

All California public school students now have access to free breakfast and lunch, no questions asked.

For millions of children, schools are more than a place of learning. They're also a place to get the food they would otherwise go without.

When the pandemic hit, the federal government waived the income requirements for free meals, allowing schools to offer the food to anyone who needed it.

In the newly adopted state budget, all public school students in California will receive free breakfast and lunch, no questions asked.

The state budget sets aside $650 million for the universal school meal program.

"We knew hundreds of thousands of kids counted on us to provide meals at school so we set up a food effort for both children and adults, providing more than 134 million meals," LAUSD superintendent Austin Beutner said in a statement.