Food to learn, grow, and thrive

California is home to one of the world’s largest economies—and the nation’s highest rate of child poverty. Millions of children across our state rely on publicly funded nutrition programs operated by schools, community organizations, and childcare providers. These programs are a lifeline for the more than 2 million California kids living in households that struggle with food insecurity. 

In 2022, California became the first state in the nation to provide universal school meals to all school-aged children. The program offers breakfast and lunch free of cost to any child who wants to participate. The sustainability of this program depends largely on optimizing federal and state funding. In addition, we must make sure that every child has access to meals during the summer months. Nourish California is working to bridge the gaps so kids have year-round access to nutritious foods.

Every kids deserves access to food every day. This campaign pursues this by advocating for school meals, Summer and Pandemic EBT, and more.

Legislation

Follow along for updates, Frequently Asked Questions, and opportunities to call our leaders to actions.

Related Posts

School Meal Budget Hearing: Assembly Subcommittee on Education

Earlier this week, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee #2 (Education Finance) held a hearing on school nutrition, including state investments to implement universal school meals. Read our comment to the subcommittee, highlighting the need for guaranteed levels of funding. “Structuring the state, per-meal reimbursement as an entitlement rather than a capped appropriation will help provide the stability needed to reach more students and sustain school [...]

Tell Congress: Invest in Child Nutrition

Every Kid, Every Day Tell Congress: Invest in Child Nutrition President Biden just announced his framework for the Build Back Better Act. The legislation includes a $10 billion investment in child nutrition that would Increase the number of schools that can offer free meals to all students through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Give states, including California, the option to offer free breakfast and [...]

School Meals: Federal Investments to Sustain Historic Change

Calling for Federal Investments in Child Nutrition The House Education & Labor Committee just voted to approve critical investments in child nutrition including Expanding eligibility and increasing federal reimbursement to offer meals free of charge to many more students via the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) through June 2030. Giving states the option to offer free […]

Every Kid, Every Day

Food to learn, grow, and thrive.