Happy Friday and welcome to Food Fix. I’m glad to be back in your inboxes, but wow is there a lot to catch up on! This summer’s news cycle has been bananas. Send me your hot tips and story ideas: helena@foodfix.co.
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Alright, let’s get to it –
Helena
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How tragedy sowed the seeds for free school meals in Minnesota
When Vice President Kamala Harris chose Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, it didn’t take long for veteran Minnesota school nutrition director Darcy Stueber to start getting a stream of press inquiries about free school meals in the state. Within days, her 18-year-old son told her the topic was being discussed on TikTok, too.
“What we’re starting to see is the light has been turned back on again,” said Stueber, public policy and legislative chair for the Minnesota School Nutrition Association, which represents school food professionals in the state. “[Universal free school meals] was a topic that was very popular during the pandemic. I think with Walz being picked, it gives an opportunity for this conversation to come back up again.”
As Food Fix readers may recall, we had universal free school meals nationwide during the first two years of Covid-19, as Washington tried to help families amid economic upheaval. It was part of a broader slate of boosted federal aid ultimately credited with a historic drop in childhood poverty and a decline in food insecurity for households with children (both trends have since reversed as the aid has dried up). When Congress let universal free school meals expire in 2022, a handful of states decided to continue the policy. On Walz’s watch, Minnesota was the fourth to do so. He signed the bill into law in 2023 surrounded by adoring children, a photo op that’s now making the rounds again – and he’s been quick to bring up the policy as he’s sprung onto the national stage.
During a recent CNN interview, Walz pushed back on criticism from Donald Trump about his liberal record as governor of Minnesota: “What a monster! Kids are eating and having full bellies so they can go learn, and women are making their own healthcare decisions, and we’re a top-five business state and we also rank in the top three of happiness,” Walz said.
School lunch has officially entered the election chat. It’s not just me taking notice, either. Paul Krugman at the New York Times even wrote about it Thursday (yes, really.) But the backstory of how Minnesota, in particular, led the way on school meals runs much deeper than Walz, even if he’s the one catapulting this to the national stage right now. The state bill – now law – was backed by a broad-based coalition of school nutrition leaders, anti-hunger groups, unions, food companies and even a local health insurer.
I didn’t realize the extent to which public support for this policy was also fueled by the legacy of Philando Castile, a beloved cafeteria worker who was shot and killed by a police officer near Minneapolis during a traffic stop in 2016 – sparking outrage across the country and internationally. Castile was known to cover the cost of lunches for his students if they couldn’t pay – something his mother, Valerie Castile, did not learn about until after he was killed. To honor her son’s memory, Castile has spent much of the past decade paying off school lunch debt in Minnesota through the Philando Castile Relief Foundation, which kept this issue in the news. She also pressed lawmakers to support free meals for all students at both the state and federal level. I spoke with Castile this week about her advocacy work and what’s next for this policy, which, according to a recent poll, 70 percent of voters in Minnesota support.
(Sidenote: Stueber, of the Minnesota School Nutrition Association, also happens to be nutrition services director of the Mankato Area Public Schools, where Walz used to be a teacher. Philando Castile graduated high school from the same school that Walz’ son Gus now attends. Valerie recalled at one point running into Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz in the high school gym and having a “chit chat.” Minnesota feels like one big small town to me. I love it.)
This interview with Valerie Castile has been edited for length and clarity.
Helena: Universal free school meals are in the news right now. Advocates seem excited that the Walz pick could really light a fire under this issue nationally. What has it been like in Minnesota? Where does this story begin for you?
Castile: It all started with Gov. Mark Dayton. I started having a conversation with him about universal free meals. We live in one of the richest countries in the world, and it’s absolutely ridiculous that our kids have a bill. Kids should have one job, and one job only: Go to school and become educated. I don’t think that they should be billed for food, because at some point these children will lead this country.
I just felt that it was important, because that’s something that [Philando] was doing. He was paying for those children’s meals out of his own pocket. I just felt like the way that I could symbolically keep him alive was to continue his work. That wasn’t my work, that was his work. He was doing that, and I learned about it after he was murdered. Students, parents and his colleagues told me about it. Police brutality happens so often that we tend to forget the names of victims. We forget until somebody brings it up. My biggest fear was that my son would be forgotten.
Was learning that Philando would pay for his students’ meals what led you to start the foundation?
God told me to start the foundation, and it grew from there. I created the Philando Castile Relief Foundation, and within it we had the vision to help reduce these negative lunch balances. Because I thought it was absolutely ridiculous that there was such a thing.
So I just started paying off school lunch debt. We were able to pay off lunch debt in St. Paul, [Minnesota]. And then I realized, why do it for St. Paul and not Minneapolis? So I started to just try to reduce that debt. I figured if there was anything that I could do for our struggling families, that’s what I needed to do.
Are you hopeful that Walz as a VP candidate will elevate this further?
He was a good choice. I never thought of him as the candidate, because it never appeared to me that he wanted that position or was seeking that position. He does great things . . . free meals, tax cuts for the middle class, reproductive freedom – if we can get some of these things across the nation, the whole country would benefit.
When you first brought up the idea of universal free school meals with local lawmakers and Walz’ predecessor, what was the initial reaction?
They initially thought about it in the way that I presented it: It’s harmful for families who can’t afford the meals. It’s another financial burden.
Then Robbinsdale Cooper High School reached out to me and said its graduating students had a lunch debt of $8,000, and the school was not going to let them participate in any other graduation activities. You know, these kids work hard for four years to graduate, and then, because their parents are poor, they can’t enjoy the graduation activities. Are you kidding me right now? It was absolutely absurd.
I went over to Cooper High School and met with the superintendent. And I paid that $8,000 because I thought it was the stupidest thing. All these things just took a life of their own.
Then we got three female senators working on this, including [Clare Oumou Verbeten]. She spoke about Philando on the Capitol floor to try to get the universal free school meals bill passed. I personally think we kind of shamed them into passing that bill. I wasn’t going to stop.
It’s an investment in our children, in our country, in the leadership of our country. All of this came full circle – Philando’s murder, the creation of the foundation to help families with negative lunch balances or loved ones lost to gun violence or police brutality, and the resources for other things that families might have a problem with in life.
How much school lunch debt have you cleared?
I want to say it’s close to $300,000, being generous.
What was it like being in the legislature when the bill passed?
Getting to hear [state Sen.] Verbeten on the floor during the debate was phenomenal. We not only advocated for this, but we gave our funds. We actually came up with dollars. You know, if you make dollars, it definitely makes sense. I honestly think it was because I was a Black woman and I was determined to see this thing through. If I have to shame you into doing it, so be it.
What I was doing was still hitting the newspapers. People were like, “Well, wait a minute.”
The kids are very, very important, because someday, they’re going to lead this country. And if they’re not competitive and smart and don’t know what’s going on and how to navigate through these tough times, then we’re gonna fall short. And once again, I’ll say it’s an investment in the future of this country.
Did you think it was going to pass?
When I got up that day, the sun was shining and I said, “Lord, it’s gonna be a good day.
I’m putting it in your hands.” [It was the second time the legislation had been brought up.]
If universal free school meals continue to expand, are you going to keep advocating for them nationally, as part of Philando’s legacy?
Absolutely. The federal government should respectfully agree that we need to feed our children so that they can be the people that we want them to be. It’s about nutrition, and we need to do our part as human beings.
Lauren Ng contributed reporting.
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What I’m reading
The agency we need to check bird flu lacks the power to do it (FERN). “The obvious federal body to tackle this problem is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is responsible for preventing American workers from getting sick or hurt on the job. But OSHA can’t touch most dairy farms because of their small size,” writes Bryce Covert. “Even if OSHA had the authority over dairy farms, it is perpetually underfunded; it has so few investigators that it would take 186 years for them to inspect all of the workplaces the agency oversees.”
After baby’s death, Kentucky parents sue infant formula maker at center of 2022 crisis (Associated Press). “The parents of a Kentucky baby who died last fall after drinking bacteria-tainted infant formula are the latest to sue Abbott Nutrition, the manufacturer at the heart of a 2022 crisis that left millions of Americans scrambling to feed their children,” Jonel Aleccia reports. “Willow Jade Dellaquila, of Carrollton, Kentucky, was 13 days old when she died on Nov. 5, 2023. She was infected with cronobacter sakazakii, a dangerous germ traced to a can of Similac Total Comfort powdered formula used in the baby’s bottles, records show.”
‘We’re stuck’ on the farm bill, says Stabenow (Successful Farming). “Republicans are unwilling to compromise on SNAP and climate funding in the new farm bill, and as a result, ‘we’re stuck,’ said Senate Agriculture Committee chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.),” according to Chuck Abbott. “The only way you get that done is if it’s bipartisan,” Stabenow said. “Progress on the farm bill has been stalled for months. House and Senate Republicans want large increases in crop subsidy spending, cuts in SNAP funding and to be able to use climate funding for soil and water projects that do not capture carbon or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Stabenow has suggested smaller increases in crop supports while opposing SNAP cuts and loosening the guardrails on climate mitigation funding.”
Chemical used in rocket fuel is widespread in food (CBS News). New Consumer Reports findings suggest that perchlorate, a chemical first identified as a contaminant more than 25 years ago, is “found in an array of food products, particularly those popular with babies and children,” Kate Gibson writes. “Linked to potential brain damage in fetuses and newborns and thyroid troubles in adults, perchlorate was detected in measurable levels of 67% of 196 samples of 63 grocery and 10 fast-food products, the most recent tests by Consumer Reports found.”
Iowa Hunger Coalition petitions state to join federal EBT program (KCCI Des Moines). “The Iowa Hunger Coalition delivered a petition Monday to Gov. Kim Reynolds asking for the state to join the federal summer EBT program next summer. The petition has more than 3,500 signatures from Iowans across the state,” according to KCCI. “The coalition says the EBT program, now called Sun Bucks, would provide low-income kids in Iowa with $120 to buy nutritious food.”
New study finds that immigrant families avoided SNAP and other safety net programs for fear of immigration consequences (Urban Institute). “Overall, 11.7 percent of adults in immigrant families reported avoiding participation in noncash safety net programs because of green card concerns in 2023,” according to researchers Dulce Gonzalez, Hamutal Bernstein, Michael Karpman and Genevieve M. Kenney. “Continuing to build on state expansions and use state dollars to extend eligibility in other programs, such as SNAP, could reduce confusion about who can apply and promote access to key health and nutrition benefits for immigrant families.”
EU’s first application for cultivated meat is for French foie gras (Politico). “French food startup Gourmey has become the first company to apply for EU market access for cultivated or ‘lab-grown’ meat, after it submitted an application for a cell-based duck product to the European Commission on Thursday,” writes Alessandro Ford. “The novel food would be used for foie gras, a traditional dish in France that has garnered increasing criticism over animal welfare concerns. Made from the bloated liver of a force-fed duck or goose, its production has been banned in a dozen EU countries.”
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