Fran Hong’s Plan For Universal School Meals
Miss Rachel is a popular Youtube personality who’s life's work is teaching children and their parents language development. Recently she has expanded her influence beyond singing songs about teaching children to poop in the potty, and has become an outspoken advocate for children dying in Palestine. From the sounds of it, supporting Palestinians was not even entirely ideological beyond a genuine care for children everywhere. I find this approach to complex political issues refreshing. While it may be valuable to have an academic understanding of Zionism and the Middle East, do we need that in order to put our foot down over the starvation of children?
The transition from teacher to advocate makes the most sense in the world if you think about it for two seconds. She started her career to create a resource for language development for younger children, and when she saw images of children starving due to war and the shameful policies of the United States and Israeli governments she used her influence to stand up for children. I am not a child-haver, but have found myself genuinely moved by her advocacy.
It is not just seeing a celebrity speak up for children’s wellbeing either, I’ve started noticing how many of the fiercest advocates for egalitarian causes are doing so primarily in the name of fighting for children. Groups like Lead Safe Schools-MKE who have worked tirelessly since this spring to get the city to do something about the lead paint in our schools. Meanwhile, there were many Democrats in state politics who betrayed the people during budget season, anddid so in the face of the activists on the ground.
Groups like W.E.C.A.N organized a powerful movement including threatening to strike. Their efforts forced Evers to hold the line and sign a budget with $360 million in public funding for childcare. Among the legislators who did not capitulate to the budget clock was Representative Francesca Hong, herself an advocate for children. For the last three legislative sessions she has been working on a bill that would fund universal school lunch/breakfast programs for all Wisconsin Public Schools. It rules, and that’s exactly the kind of energy we need from elected officials!
The bill was cosponsored in the State Senate by Senator Chris Larson. Unfortunately. the most recent attempt at moving the bill forward never made it out of committee. Republicans like Rep. Joel Kitchens (that is his real name!) says it’s just too expensive to feed kids - and this guy is on the Assembly Education Sub-Committee, gross!
Lunch Programs
Children should not be hungry in school. It is the barest minimum to provide food for children while we are keeping them in school. This shows children that there is a genuine care for their wellbeing, and when children feel cared for they feel safer. It is not only good for the students, but will ease the burden of child food insecurity in families with limited resources.
Across the country there are stories about “school lunch debt,” a heinous sentence that should give every person a great deal of shame. Children denied lunch because of a $9 debt. Or even the small othering done to children who are given “free/reduced” lunch designations. There is a wealth of mental health stress that we inflict on children in the name of lunch “fiscal responsibility” like Rep. Kitchens is suggesting.
There is a lot of science backing up these proposals, but that’s nerd shit. Meal programs for children have been good politics since at least the 1960’s as the Black Panthers implemented their breakfast programs (note for reader: you should click that link.) We know that having access to food helps students learn better, and we also know that childhood hunger is a massive problem in our very rich country. Wisconsin can do better than having hungry children.
Hey Karl Marx, Slow Down There!
Sorry comrades, I guess believing children shouldn’t be hungry is pretty revolutionary. Except actually wait, no it isn’t, Minnesota does the same dang thing! So does Michigan, and 7 other states. It is not a fantastical goal, and would have meaningful and immediate positive effects on our children in the state. As an important side benefit to promoting the welfare of children, it is good politics.
You may remember about a year ago when Minnesota governor Tim Walz was catapulted into national political discourse. He was handpicked by the Kamala Harris campaign as her running mate because of his folksy progressivism, and in a lot of ways he was a foil to middle America's perception of Kamala Harris as a coastal elite. You may further remember the fawning coverage from center left publications about Walz and his recent legislative accomplishment… universal school meal programs. This was the height of the Harris campaign, when I think that a lot of us thought she might have had a shot, and before the campaign pivoted to courting the Liz Cheny-wing of the Republican party.
I would add that at the end of the 2024 Presidential race Tim Walz had the highest favorability vs unfavorability of either of the presidential candidates or JD Vance. It shows that politicians who show genuine concern for their constituents like Representative Francesca Hong have the right idea about what will benefit people, and the good that the government can actually do for people. Her ability to speak to the real needs of people in Wisconsin stands in contrast with another politician we praised back in April for having a bold idea. Unlike this sort of performative policy proposal she is putting children first and giving meaningful solutions to real problems.
It also serves as a contrast to centrist Democratic talking points. There is this boring, and losing strategy Dem’s keep trying that is not exciting at all. Voters don’t respond to “lowering prescription drug prices,” or “our policies have been great for the economy” when they don’t notice lower prices or feel any economic stability. Democrats need to internalize that if they have to explain their policies they are not resonating. Tangible things like free lunch for their children is how we win people over.
