FARGO — A new community coalition is on a mission to guarantee every North Dakota child has access to healthy meals at school, regardless of family income.

The Together for School Meals coalition launched this week with more than 30

local organizations

backing the cause.

Made up of professionals in fields ranging from food security organizations and family advocacy groups to teachers and administrators, the coalition seeks additional support ahead of the upcoming legislative session, which convenes Tuesday, Jan. 7.

The coalition will recommend to North Dakota legislators that they provide $140 million in state funding over the next two years to reimburse school districts for the cost of providing free meals to all students.

Formed by Prairie Action ND, the coalition aims to have breakfast and lunch included in the School Meals for All program.

Melissa Sobolik, CEO of the Great Plains Food Bank, said more than 156,000 North Dakotans relied on the food bank in 2023. They included more than one in every three children, making a permanent solution to food insecurity urgent.

“It’s the highest ever for those numbers in our 41-year history,” she said.

Robin Nelson, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club and Fargo school board member who is a spokesperson on legislative issues, said there are many benefits to every child getting healthy meals at school.

School attendance and academic success typically increase when children receive proper nutrition, she said, and anger issues decline when they’re not hungry and undernourished.

Nelson said it’s important to include all children in meal programs, not just those whose families are in lower income brackets.

“Some families hide that they are having issues with their bills. We just want to make sure that no child is left out, and provide every student with the optimal tools to help them succeed,” she said.

Coalition member Tony Burke, government relations director for the American Heart Association, said the U.S. is looking at a cost of $1.8 trillion for health care around chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, by 2050.

He said much of that is fueled by the increasing prevalence of obesity — a trajectory that could change if all children receive proper nutrition.

“We know everything we go after is research and evidence based. We know that investing now will save us in the long run,” Burke said.

During the last legislative session, a bill to provide free lunches at a cost of $6 million over two years for children in families at 200% of the federal poverty level,

fell one vote short of approval in the state Senate after passing in the House.

Lawmakers did end up allocating $6 million to school meals for qualifying families, but the funding was temporary.

A companion piece of legislation known as the anti-lunch shaming bill did receive approval,

ensuring that children who had unpaid school lunch bills weren’t shamed by being fed an alternate, cheaper lunch.

However, an unintended consequence of that bill, Nelson said, was that school districts were to forgive unpaid meal debt using dollars from the pot of funding that pays teachers.

“We do not want this (free meals) included in the per pupil payment. It needs to be separate,” Nelson said.

Fargo Public Schools currently has unpaid school meal debt of $72,000, which could reach $125,000 by the end of the school year, she said.

A new poll shows North Dakotans largely support state involvement in providing free school meals.

Results from the North Dakota News Cooperative poll released last month

showed 82% of respondents in favor and only 14% opposed. A total of 65% “strongly favor” providing free meals at schools.

Support was generally high among all age groups, while most opposition came from men over 55 years of age, the poll indicated.

Nelson said she and others in the coalition will track and advocate for all free school meals legislation during the session.

“That is the goal of this coalition, to make this a higher priority for our state legislators,” she said.

No. 6 Alabama men’s basketball narrowly escaped North Dakota with a 97-90 road win on Wednesday evening.

While the ride to the home of the Fighting Hawks was over 1,300 miles away, it’s less than 100 miles from Alabama forward Grant Nelson’s hometown of Devils Lake. Nelson detailed during Tuesday’s press conference how excited he was to return to North Dakota and that he was given a separate web link from the rest of the team to invite significantly more family and friends than usual.

“I just felt so much love,” Nelson said when his name was announced as the starting lineups were read. “It’s great to play in front of these people who have supported me and I’m just super grateful for this experience, for the coaching staff scheduling this game and just giving these guys a show tonight.”

Nelson played in front of a fanbase he was and still is somewhat attached to. That said, he played at North Dakota State for three years before transferring to Alabama before last season and put up the “Roll Herd” with his arms and pointed to the stands during the game when fans were chanting “UND.”

Nelson tied with Preseason All-American guard Mark Sears for the team-lead in points at halftime with eight. However, like the rest of the Crimson Tide’s offense, Nelson shined in the second half and finished the game with 23 points, with 10 rebounds, three blocks and two assists. His point total tied for a season-high, and his rebound and block numbers each tied for his second-best performance.

Some of these numbers stem from clutch time as Nelson scored four points and secured three rebounds in the game’s final 90 seconds to ensure he left his home state with a win. To no one’s surprise, he was also named tonight’s Hard Hat winner for scoring the most blue-collar points, which measures his all-around hustle.

“I thought all in all Grant played pretty well coming back home,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. “He shot pretty well, except from three…I’m glad Grant had family and friends at the game I’m glad we (scheduled) it.

“I thought Grant was very good for most of the game, I thought he came ready to play. He had the emphatic dunk in the first half, thought he made some big blocks, had some tough rebounds, made his free throws, got to the rim and finished pretty well. He’s a steadying influence.”

As the score suggests, this was far from an easy victory as Alabama often trailed throughout the game, but pulled away late. Nelson warned the team before the game that it would be tougher than expected. This was especially apparent in Summit League leading scorer and North Dakota guard Treysen Eaglestaff, who dropped 40 points.

“We played awful, pretty much the whole game,” Nelson said. “We came in, we didn’t take these guys seriously. I was telling them, this is a big game on their home court. We’ve got to take these guys serious. They’re playing for a lot…Can’t sleep on those North Dakota boys, they can really hoop.

“I’ve known [Eaglestaff] for a while, I played him when he was here and I was at North Dakota State. I knew he was a great player and our scouting report was pretty much around him…He’ll make a lot of money playing basketball. I think we let ourselves down, we’ve got a lot to learn, watch video and see what we can do better.”

The Crimson Tide will get a chance to show some improvement at home for its next game against Kent State on Sunday, Dec. 22 at 12 p.m. CT.

South Dakota State football is set to face North Dakota State in Fargo at 11 a.m. Saturday with a trip to the FCS national championship game on the line.

This is the sixth time NDSU has faced SDSU in the playoffs, but the Bison hold a 5-1 advantage in those games as well as the Dakota Marker after a 13-9 win in October.

Here is the tale of the tape between the two sides.

No. 3 South Dakota State (12-2, 7-1) vs No. 2 North Dakota State (12-2, 7-1)

When: Saturday, 11 a.m.

Where: Fargodome

TV/Radio: ABC, ESPN+/Jackrabbit Sports Network

What’s at stake?: History, the 2024 season, and bragging rights in a historic rivalry. This game has everything. North Dakota State has been viewed as the dominant team in the FCS for years, but South Dakota State has stolen that place on the mantle for the past couple of seasons.

This is the sixth time NDSU has faced SDSU in the playoffs. The Jackrabbits will have a tall task ahead of them this weekend as the Bison have won all five playoff games in Fargo. South Dakota State’s lone win in the playoff series was the most recent matchup when they defeated NDSU in the 2022 national championship game, 45-21.

Who’s better?: The two sides are pretty evenly matched, although North Dakota State did defeat South Dakota State this season to win the Dakota Marker for the first time in four years. 

Statistically though, South Dakota State certainly looks like the better team. It has the best scoring defense in the FCS, allowing only 12 points per game. The Jackrabbits also rank higher in total defense (280.4) and total offense (441.3) but NDSU has been more efficient with its offense and averaged more points per game. The Bison also ranks sixth in red zone offense while SDSU is 27th.

Matchup to watch: This is going to sound a bit vague, but the South Dakota State offense vs the North Dakota State defense. The last time these two teams faced off the Jacks actually held a 9-7 lead late and had multiple chances to build on it but failed. Instead, the offense sputtered out and the Bison eventually took advantage with a touchdown late to win the game.

The lone offensive highlight of the game for SDSU was a 66-yard touchdown run by Chase Mason. Mason had been out injured for a few weeks but made his return in limited snaps against Incarnate Word last weekend. He looked a bit rusty, but having both Mark Gronowski and Mason in the backfield adds a bit of unpredictability to the South Dakota State attack.

The South Dakota State offense certainly started the season as a question mark after losing many key pieces, but it feels like it’s clicking at the right time. The Gronowski-Griffin Wilde connection is the best it’s been all season and Amar Johnson, alongside the offensive line, has also looked sharp the past couple weeks.

SDSU wins if: Its offense can overcome a solid North Dakota State defense. The South Dakota State offense has struggled when it’s faced some of the top teams in its conference. The Jackrabbits scored 20 or fewer points against both South Dakota and NDSU. The Bison allow only 17.5 points per game and rank in the top 25 for rushing yards allowed per game. 

Prediction: 21-17, SDSU. It feels like the Jacks are peaking at the right time and they’ll be extra hungry with a chance at another FCS national title on the line.