Thursday, October 1, 2026
Legislation aimed at protecting free school meals for students was on the menu on Sept. 8 at Forest Road School, where Rep. Laura Gillen discussed the Feed Hungry Kids Act.
Roxanne Garcia-France, superintendent of Valley Stream District 30, and Gregory May, director of government and community relations for Island Harvest Food Bank, joined Gillen at the elementary school.
Gillen, a Democrat who represents a large swath of Nassau County, and Rep. David Valadao, a Republican from California, introduced the bipartisan bill. The legislation would protect the Community Eligibility Provision, a federal program that allows underserved schools to offer breakfast and lunch to all students at no charge.
“As a mother of four children, it is painful for me to think of any child having to come to school hungry and spend the day hungry, yearning for something to eat,” Gillen said. “Every one of America’s students and children deserves a good education that sets them up for a successful life, regardless of their background or their zip code. Students cannot, however, reach their full academic potential on an empty stomach.”
The provision states that if a certain percentage of students in a school qualify for assistance, then every student would receive access to meals at no cost. The program also reduces paperwork for families and school districts to ease access to the program.
In 2023, the federal government lowered the participation threshold for the program from 40 percent to 25 percent, meaning that if a quarter of the students in a district qualify for free school meals, then all students would benefit. The change made an additional 17,000 schools across the country eligible.
Gillen said that proposals have since emerged in Congress to reverse that change, and even raise the threshold as high as 60 percent, which would significantly reduce access to free meals. The Feed Hungry Kids Act would maintain the 25 percent threshold, ensuring that schools do not lose eligibility.
The bill has received support from both Island Harvest and Long Island Cares, two of the region’s largest food banks. Gillen said the bipartisan support for the legislation reflects the shared priority to ensure that children are fed.
Valley Stream schools first benefited from the provision two years ago, when the district expanded access to the program so that all students could receive free breakfast and lunch.
“Here, in the Valley Stream 30, the friendly schools, we’re about educating and inspiring and celebrating our students as global leaders of tomorrow,” Garcia-France said. “The Feed Hungry Kids Act strengthens that mission. It ensures that every child has daily access to healthy, nutritious meals at schools, raising nutrition standards and giving families confidence that their children are receiving food that fuels both their mind and body.
“This act also supports students’ well-being and healthy growth, helping to combat childhood obesity, which affects nearly one in five young people nationwide,” she continued. “By providing access to healthier options at school, we are teaching lifelong habits that ripple into the home. Families can reinvest the money that they save on school meals into healthier food choices, deepening the partnership between home and school. The friendly school believes no child should walk through (the) doors hungry. The Feed Hungry Kids Act fuels more than meals — it fuels futures, empowering every student to thrive academically and maintain physical well-being through access to nutritional meals.”
May placed the discussion within the broader context of food access on Long Island, noting that September is Hunger Action Month, and Sept. 9 was Hunger Action Day.
“This bill will protect that and ensure that every kid in New York State is able to receive free breakfast and lunch at school during the school year,” May said. “More than 240,000 Long Islanders are facing food insecurity, and this important bill is going to help make sure that our kids are fed.”
If the bill fails, Gillen said schools and families would once again be subject to partisan budget debates, creating uncertainty over whether children would consistently have access to food during the school day. She emphasized that the legislation is designed to provide steady funding and stability so that schools can continue to feed students without disruption.
