Letter to Sonny Perdue, Secretary of Agriculture - Rep. Lujan Grisham Leads Letter to USDA to an End to Lunch Shaming

Letter

Dear Secretary Perdue,

As you know, lunch shaming is the practice of publicly humiliating, embarrassing, or calling attention to the fact that some students are unable to pay for their meals at school. Holding children accountable is unreasonable and cruel. No students should be asked to do chores in front of their peers, made to wear wristbands or handstamps, or have their lunch thrown out as their friends look on.

For many students, meal shaming stands between them and their only meal of the day. The importance of access to school meals is the reason we strongly support the National School Lunch Program and the Summer Food Service Program. School meals are vital to the success of our children, and it is unthinkable that every day thousands of students across the country are singled out because they lack the funds to afford a meal.

Section 9(b)(10) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(10)) prohibits the "…physical segregation of or other discrimination against any child eligible for a free lunch or a reduced price lunch…nor shall there be any overt identification of any child by special tokens or tickets, announced or published list of names, or by other means." Lunch shaming, by calling attention to a lack of funds in a student's account, is an overt identification that discriminates.

Fortunately, there are ways in which the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) can work together with Congress to end this discrimination. As such, we urge your office, together with Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), to issue guidance encouraging schools to end the practice of lunch shaming.

Furthermore, we understand and are concerned about the heavy burden of unpaid meal debt, an issue facing three-quarters of the school districts throughout the United States. We do not want to unduly burden states, localities, or schools. However, no child should be responsible for meal debt nor should they be shamed. Instead, all communications regarding meal debt ought to be directly between a school and a student's parents.

The importance of the school meal programs administered through USDA cannot be understated. We stand ready to work with you to issue guidance prohibiting lunch shaming and to take an important step to once and for all end this heinous practice. Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Michelle Lujan Grisham Rodney Davis

Member of Congress Member of Congress

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