Ask any elementary school teacher and they’ll tell you they know if their kids have come to school hungry. The question was put to the test during the Covid pandemic, when the US Department of Agriculture suspended income rules for the first two years so that all students in grades K-12 could get breakfast and lunch at no cost.
Now, there’s a group of Republican lawmakers in the White House and Congress who don’t believe it’s the government’s job to feed people. But at the state level, the GOP is heading in a different direction. As rising food prices and tariffs (and even the threat of tariffs) are making the weekly grocery bill for many working families unaffordable, legislatures in several red states are quietly working to expand hunger programs. Their efforts are backed by farmers, usually among the first to argue that feeding programs are a win-win for them and people who are struggling. Which side of the GOP wins this fight could determine how many American kids go hungry.
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