{"id":19990,"date":"2020-03-16T19:30:48","date_gmt":"2020-03-16T19:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=19990"},"modified":"2020-03-18T22:18:52","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T22:18:52","slug":"americas-poorest-children-wont-get-nutritious-meals-with-school-cafeterias-closed-due-to-the-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/americas-poorest-children-wont-get-nutritious-meals-with-school-cafeterias-closed-due-to-the-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"America’s poorest children won’t get nutritious meals with school cafeterias closed due to the coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thurston Domina<\/a>, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Schools aren\u2019t only places where kids learn. They are also places where kids eat.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the National School Lunch Program<\/a>, 30 million U.S. children \u2013 some 60% of all school-aged kids \u2013 regularly eat some combination of breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks at school. Federal subsidies ensure that school meals are affordable for all children to stave off hunger and malnutrition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But what is happening to meals provided by the nation\u2019s largest child nutrition program as public schools shut their doors to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic?<\/p>\n

Based on my research<\/a> on how schools provide meals for poor children<\/a>, I worry that these closures might leave some of the nation\u2019s poorest children without access to nutritious meals.<\/p>\n