Tricia LaBelle has worked in school kitchens near Portsmouth for years. She’s seen the struggles that accompany families applying for free or reduced-price lunch meals. But it wasn’t until her son entered kindergarten that she fully grasped the challenge.

“I remember getting my first meal application and looking at it, as a person who would have qualified, and thinking, ‘No way – how embarrassing,’” she told lawmakers last month. “I’d have to fill out this packet and send it back in with him to give to his teacher.”

LaBelle knew the value the application would provide. Depending on their income level, kids on free or reduced-price meal plans pay 40 cents for lunch and 30 cents for breakfast – or nothing at all. The full price for lunches in New Hampshire schools can hover around $3 to $4 a day.

But LaBelle faced a bigger force: shame. “I was way too concerned that his teacher would then label him as a ‘free and reduced’ child,” she said. “That was a risk that I wasn’t willing to take.”

In most public schools, this is the only option for eligible families for the meal discounts – those making up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level. If they want to save money, they must fill out a physical application and return it to school, often in the hands of an embarrassed child. And LaBelle, who is now an advocate for New Hampshire Hunger Solutions, has seen other challenges. The schools provide breakfasts, but only if the students can get them in time to make their first class. If their bus is late, some kids don’t eat until noon. 

Advocates say there are a number of fixes the state could make to improve the picture. And this year, lawmakers are showing interest. This month, the New Hampshire Senate gave support to a wide-ranging bill to expand public school meals in New Hampshire. Senate Bill 499 would increase the number of schools offering breakfast, help subsidize an approach to deliver breakfast between classes, incentivize healthier meals, and allow parents to more easily apply for free and reduced-price meals.

The Senate voted unanimously to approve it Thursday. The legislation moves next to the Senate Finance Committee, and will need final approval by the full Senate before heading on to the House.

Anti-hunger advocates say action is necessary. The U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey has found that as of October 2023, 44 percent of New Hampshire homes reported having “insufficient food,” a label that includes those who did not have enough food and those who had enough but not always the kind they wanted. That includes 50 percent of homes with children.

Sponsored by Hopkinton Democratic Sen. Becky Whitley and Bedford Republican Sen. Denise Ricciardi, SB 499 requires all school districts to make both breakfast and lunch available at school. Currently, state statute only requires at least one meal to be served. 

“A child’s brain is built from the bottom up, with strong foundations essential to later physical, cognitive. and emotional well-being,” said Ricciardi. “We must ensure that early environments are working to support strong foundations. That’s why school meals are critical to young children.”

The bill would also help school districts implement an approach to nutrition known as “breakfast after the bell.” That approach allows students to get breakfast between their first class and lunch, eliminating the need to arrive at school earlier and eat it then. Under the bill, schools that want to launch that program would get reimbursement for any necessary equipment from the state’s Department of Education – provided that at least 40 percent of their students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. 

SB 499 requires that all school districts participate in the National School Breakfast Program unless the district has its own breakfast program or has fewer than 10 percent of its students eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The bill also requires those districts that do participate in the program to collect statistics on how many students eat them.

The bill gives incentives to schools that improve the nutritional quality of their meals. Those schools that have adopted a school wellness policy, a document outlining how to promote student health, and who have met the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s child nutrition requirements for their meals could get reimbursement for the meals they serve from the Department of Education.

The legislation also seeks to make the process of applying for free or reduced-price meals easier for parents: It would require school districts to offer both online and physical applications in an effort to give parents more flexibility.

That application process has been politically contentious. During the COVID-19 pandemic, New Hampshire schools used federal funds to provide universal school meals, and lower-income parents did not need to apply. Now, families eligible for the subsidized meals once again need to apply. Republican lawmakers have opposed allowing New Hampshire to participate in “Medicaid Direct Certification,” a program that would let schools automatically enroll children into the program by determining their income from state Medicaid data.

And the bill requires the state Department of Education to participate in the Summer EBT program, which lets families eligible for free or reduced-price meals to continue receiving benefits on an EBT card through the summer.

The costs of the bill are still being worked out, Whitley said at a hearing. As currently written, the bill funds several of the initiatives with $1 – a placeholder amount that allows the governor to request to draw on more funds in the future. 

To New Hampshire Hunger Solutions Director Laura Milliken, the state’s school meal supply acts like a power grid. Every school in the state provides meals, she told lawmakers last month. But not all have the best infrastructure to do it.

And while the federal government has made funding available for meals for lower-income families, the actual participation in those programs in the Granite State can be low. 

“The federal nutrition programs that exist to help people in need are poorly connected within New Hampshire,” Milliken said. 

Other advocacy organizations have rallied behind the bill, arguing in testimony that its benefits could extend beyond the state’s schools. 

Nancy Vaughan, government relations director for the American Heart Association in New Hampshire, praised the incentives for nutritious food and said healthy eating habits benefit kids into adulthood. Dawn McKinney, policy director at New Hampshire Legal Assistance, said the organization supports any easing in applications for food benefit programs, noting that students in families who are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) automatically receive free and reduced-price lunches.

When Renee Berkley moved to Alstead from Utah and began volunteering in the school system, she was surprised at the amount of hardship she saw. 

“All I kept thinking was the Aerosmith song ‘Livin’ on the Edge,’ ” she told lawmakers. “There’s so many families living on the edge that are barely making ends meet.”

Berkley pointed to other New England states, such as Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont, that surround New Hampshire and currently provide free meals to all public school students. 

“So what message are you sending people who moved to New Hampshire like myself?” she said. “What is your priority? Is it ‘live free and die’? Is it ‘live free and be poor and hungry’? Or can we turn this around?”