(The Center Square) – New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is vowing to continue the state’s universal “free” school lunch program and is pumping more money into food pantries in response to federal funding cuts by the Trump administration.
Hochul announced Monday that New York will continue funding its universal free school meals program, which provides breakfast and lunch to students at participating schools, regardless of family income.
The program, which serves about 2.7 million meals each school day, was approved last year and cost the state’s taxpayers $395 million in the fiscal year 2027 budget, an increase of $55 million from the previous year.
But Hochul said that with the Trump administration cutting funding for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the school lunch program helps New York families save up to $1,600 per child per year on groceries.
“It’s shameful that President Trump and Washington Republicans are trying to take free school meals away from our kids – and that’s why I took action to ensure kids across New York won’t lose access to the free school meals they rely on,” Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement.
Hochul also announced on Monday $8.3 million in state grants for 59 food banks and emergency food assistance organizations, through the New York Providing Local Access to Essential Sustenance program. The grants will help the nonprofits expand food storage, improve distribution and upgrade facilities that serve New Yorkers facing food insecurity.’
“Food banks and pantries need reliable facilities and equipment to serve their communities,” Dormitory Authority of the State of New York President & CEO Robert J. Rodriguez said in a statement. “These grants will help organizations make practical improvements that allow them to store more food, reduce waste and reach more families.”
The moves come after a new report suggested some states are seeing declines in participation in free school meal programs amid federal food assistance cuts and eligibility requirements for SNAP implemented as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, President Donald Trump’s signature tax cut and domestic policy bill signed last year.
Roughly 1 in 7 families in New York are food insecure, meaning they don’t have consistent, reliable access to nutritious and affordable food, according to the group Feeding America.
About 1 in 5 children in the state have faced hunger, according to the group. Data from the Department of Agriculture shows the state is among the two dozen with the nation’s highest rates of food insecurity.
New York was among a majority of states that provided universal preschool lunches during the COVID-19 pandemic amid a wellspring of federal funding during the public health emergency. But much of that federal money dried up in 2022, and Congress hasn’t provided more funding.
But it was among a handful of states – including Massachusetts, California, Maine, Nevada and Vermont – that decided to extend the universal free lunch program after federal funding ended.
