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How free school meals went mainstream in the US

By Susan Shain
New York Times·
9 mins to read

Kurt Marthaller, who oversees school food programmes in Butte, Montana, faces many cafeteria-related challenges: children skipping the lunch line because they fear being judged, parents fuming about surprise bills they can’t afford, unpaid meal debts of US$70,000 (about NZ$114,840) district-wide.

But at nearly half of Marthaller’s schools, these concerns have vanished. At those schools, all students get free breakfast and lunch, regardless of their family’s income. At one school, West Elementary, children grab milk cartons, cereal bars and bananas from

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