Free meals in Massachusetts schools help achieve broader education goals (Editorial)

A well-documented research finding is now a centerpiece of Massachusetts school life: Meals for students are free.

Education researchers long ago established that hungry students perform less well than others. That spurred governments to underwrite the costs of food for students who qualify by income.

But this year, free meals are “universal” for students in Massachusetts, as they have already been in seven other states. This month, Gov. Maura Healey signed a state budget that includes $172 million to make this happen in public schools from kindergarten through grade 12.

This is money well spent. By removing the stigma of having to qualify for a free meal, Massachusetts helps ensure young people take their seats in classrooms as ready as possible to learn.

And it goes beyond the presence of distracting hunger pains. Poor nutrition among schoolchildren is associated with bad health, uneven learning habits, absenteeism and, not surprisingly, behavior issues.

It’s been known for years that hungry students are unable to concentrate as much as they should on their classwork. They don’t have as much motivation to absorb lessons as students who get enough to eat. Researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio found that hungry students are “unengaged” students.

We can all grasp why.

The No Kid Hungry nonprofit says not getting enough to eat affects a student’s mood, memory and motor skills. Young people who haven’t had enough to eat receive lower test scores and face trouble expanding their vocabularies.

Then along came the pandemic. For months, students were cut off from these sources of food, though many school districts ramped up efforts to deliver meals to community centers. The pandemic also deepened public understanding about the connection between proper nutrition and learning.

Some districts in the Pioneer Valley beat the state to this good new policy. Schools in Chicopee, Springfield and West Springfield had already made lunches widely free. Chicopee, for its part, serves two meals on school days to 5,000 children, according to its director of food service, Melanie Wilk. That’s enabled the city’s program to reach 80% of students; Wilk believes the new policy will help it feed all students.

Schools exist to feed the minds of the next generations.

Actual food, we now know, matters too.