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Food Service Director Urges State to Use Sugary Beverage Tax Revenue to Fund School Meals
Summary
A food service director and education advocates told the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee that implementing a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages could both reduce consumption and fund school meal programs, which they said have been scaled back since March 2020.
Stephanie (last name not specified), a school food service director, told the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee that sugar-sweetened beverages are common in schools and that revenue from a sugary beverage tax could be used to restore and fund school meal programs.
She said this school year is the first since March 2020 that public schools in the state are largely removed from government-funded universal free meals. "We've gone from free meals for all to intermittent free meal funding ... to now only reduced price students qualifying for free breakfast and lunch," she said, and added that the loss of universal free meals "increases behavioral disruptions, nurse visits, decreases student attendance." She told the committee that free breakfast for all students had improved on-time arrival and classroom contributions.
Stephanie said implementing a sugary beverage tax and using the revenue for school meals would be "a win win for Connecticut public school students," though she acknowledged funding universal free meals is costly.
Speakers
Stephanie (full name not provided), Food Service Director (citizen)
Nut graf: A food service director asked lawmakers to consider a sugar-sweetened beverage tax as a revenue source to reverse reductions in universal free school meals and to support student attendance and behavior.
Details: The witness described an observed rise in energy drink and prime beverage consumption among students, including classroom disruptions and trades among elementary students, and tied funding reductions since 2020 to worsening student outcomes.
Ending: The committee heard many witnesses on revenue and programmatic changes; no formal vote or directive resulted from this testimony segment.
