There are very few memories that most students find important from their time in school. One of the most prominent is waiting in the lunch line with a bright yellow school tray. A warm slice of pizza, a carton of milk, and a side of fruits and vegetables, thousands of students across Idaho stand in these lines every day.
For these students, lunch time has become a pinnacle of their day. However, some students’ attention lies beyond the colorful lunch trays, to whether they can afford the same meals as their friends.
After months of controversial congressional debate, President Donald Trump signed The One Big Beautiful Bill in July 2025. Among its cuts to federal welfare, the bill slashes $186 billion to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). As a result, students all across Idaho are at risk of losing access to free/reduced lunch in schools at the start of the 2027-2028 school year.
In schools around Idaho, a parent’s participation in SNAP automatically guarantees their children access to free and reduced lunch, which would otherwise cost up to $500 annually. Now, stricter regulations and drastic budget cuts have caused the program to lose millions of members due to immigration status, age restrictions and increased paperwork.
In a statement provided by Boise School District’s Food and Nutrition Services, pre-existing programs such as the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) are the primary source providing students with eligibility for free school lunch without collecting household applications.
However, not all students qualify for CEP.
“This school year, we have 443 students who qualify specifically through SNAP…We will be closely monitoring the program as we begin planning for 2027-2028.”
Since its original enforcement, the law has resulted in over 1.5 million children losing access to SNAP nationwide according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. In Idaho, these 443 students are vulnerable to a reduction in free/reduced lunch resources.
The same government whose job is to serve the public has dismantled a system millions of families and children rely on. There is no excuse for these budget cuts and as the clock ticks closer to the 2027-2028 school year, staff around Idaho are preparing for this shift and how it could affect their students.
“We have students when vacation or winter break is coming up say, ‘Oh I’m going to miss school, I’m going to miss food.’” said Erika Marton, nutrition elementary manager at Roosevelt Elementary.
Marton works alongside lunch staff providing children with food everyday and in her experience, free and reduced lunch programs are an essential part of their school.
“There’s also children who might eat only at school and when they go home, we don’t know what’s going on.” She explains.
Data from the Food Research and Action Center found that over 73,000 children in Idaho live in food insecure households. Children aren’t clueless about their situations, and the longer our government reduces their resources, the longer families will continue to struggle with food insecurity.
As West Ada School District’s director of school nutrition, Anne Brock paints a picture of how these resources benefit our communities. For her, the work schools do to provide students with resources goes beyond the classroom.
“School meals are more than just a full belly. It really encompasses all of the education system, as well as health in general,” explains Brock. “I think it has a larger impact on our community than more people realize.”
It’s important to note that the effects of the federal government’s actions are also falling on school districts around the state as staff grow increasingly worried for their students. It is imperative our state and federal government do the most in their power to provide safe environments for our children.
Not only are they failing at this, but it is abundantly clear that providing for children is not their priority. After years of proactive battles to bring children access to resources in schools, our government has dismantled it in one bill.
As a new school year approaches, the disastrous and unforeseeable consequences of SNAP cuts are going to be felt statewide. The federal misuse of funding money used to aid, feed and provide for families is rooted in a completely uneducated decision.
A reduction in federal and state resources can make a difference in the way students perform in the classroom, interact with learning materials, engage with others, and even influence their test scores. Soon, the lack of food for children will be found in lunchrooms across the nation.
