Free Lunch

[Muleybuck]

Free Lunch sounds like a very good idea, it's even a noble one. I've heard from several people that work in the school system that no-one ever gets turn away but there is that stigma of getting in line then being "outed" that you don't have money to pay or just the embarrassment from your fellow students. Poverty is no fault of the child, so they shouldn't be punish. It doesn't need to be a constitutional measurement. This should be a biennium line budget item. There are many ways to pay for it such as getting it from ND resource such as oil. For the fiscal years 2023 and 2024 - $6 billion in tax revenues from oil and gas. You could also remove this exemption; "More than half of the 20,000 active oil wells in North Dakota have been certified as stripper wells, or low-producing wells, and pay a 5% gross production tax. But they are exempt from paying a 5% oil extraction tax." That would pay for it. Or increase the coal tax. Or eliminate the farm subsidy program could also pay for it. It's been over due to be eliminated. We don't subsidies business that can't make it due rent cost, lack of employees, tariffs or having a product no one wants. You could tax the non-profit properties, tax employees health insurance benefits as earned income. Also if you are giving free lunch to public schools then you must give it to private and parochial schools. You can not give a benefits to just part of the citizens, all citizens are entitled to and be able to benefit from it. If you want to pass a constitutional measurement than pass one that say all governments, county and city budgets shall be determined on the money you have verse on money you think you are going to have. Also all budgets are based on needs and not wants. Just like every American has to do.

 

[Pheasant 54]

Just take the money the ND Development fund has been pissing away

 

[johnr]

Who is feeding these poor fat kids in the summer?

How is it now just a problem, now that Americans have more money and available programs than ever before. Seems odd that at this point in history we would have all these starving kids.

Also increasing taxes on oil companies, or charging income tax for health insurance benefits, or any other sticking it to one group to fund another is all the same shit. Its getting the rest of society to pay for a certain group of society that should be holding their own.

Kids knowing when their mom and her welfare check are not covering their basic needs, so they know not to repeat it upon their time as an adult. Sometimes lessons are learned, or should I say most times lessons are learned from hardship.

How about when one kid has a new Jeep at the school parking lot, and poor Jimmy has to ride his Schwinn, do we need a program for the bike rider to not feel as though his family is poor.

They are all fed now, nothing needs to be amended, nothing needs to be pushed off unto another group to fund.

 

[Mike Fretty]

Who is feeding these poor fat kids in the summer?

How is it now just a problem, now that Americans have more money and available programs than ever before. Seems odd that at this point in history we would have all these starving kids.

Also increasing taxes on oil companies, or charging income tax for health insurance benefits, or any other sticking it to one group to fund another is all the same shit. Its getting the rest of society to pay for a certain group of society that should be holding their own.

Kids knowing when their mom and her welfare check are not covering their basic needs, so they know not to repeat it upon their time as an adult. Sometimes lessons are learned, or should I say most times lessons are learned from hardship.

How about when one kid has a new Jeep at the school parking lot, and poor Jimmy has to ride his Schwinn, do we need a program for the bike rider to not feel as though his family is poor.

They are all fed now, nothing needs to be amended, nothing needs to be pushed off unto another group to fund.

Our world is in trouble. You would think an outdoor website in NoDak would primarily consist of conservative and clear thinking people. Issues like this show otherwise

 

[johnr]

Our world is in trouble. You would think an outdoor website in NoDak would primarily consist of conservative and clear thinking people. Issues like this show otherwise

Where is the clear thinking about taking your neighbors money? Where is the clear thinking in taking your neighbors money is conservative?
Being for personal accountability, and limited government is what I believe to be conservative.

Not sure how we mandate society to help raise others kids is somehow conservative.

When there is a bowl of candy on someone's porch during Halloween with a note that says couldn't be home please take one, should the kid whose parent doesn't have candy money take all of it?

 

[Mike Fretty]

Where is the clear thinking about taking your neighbors money? Where is the clear thinking in taking your neighbors money is conservative?
Being for personal accountability, and limited government is what I believe to be conservative.

Not sure how we mandate society to help raise others kids is somehow conservative.

When there is a bowl of candy on someone's porch during Halloween with a note that says couldn't be home please take one, should the kid whose parent doesn't have candy money take all of it?

Im agreeing with you

 

[eyexer]

One thing about poverty is it teaches kids to get their asses out there and work when they’re of age so they don’t get stuck in that environment. That’s how this country was founded. Poor ass people who didn’t have a pot to piss in putting on their big boy panties and doing whatever it took to survive and become successful so that their kids didn’t have to live in that type of an environment

 

[Traxion]

One thing about poverty is it teaches kids to get their asses out there and work when they’re of age so they don’t get stuck in that environment. That’s how this country was founded. Poor ass people who didn’t have a pot to piss in putting on their big boy panties and doing whatever it took to survive and become successful so that their kids didn’t have to live in that type of an environment

I agree hard times make tough people. But generational poverty is something I witnessed full scale. I taught in a school I went to as a child. I saw many of the same families of my childhood still there struggling. Kids who grow up not knowing any different end up in the same spot. I’m not saying this would solve the problem, it won’t. But poverty is engrained and not always so easy to break out of. Kids don’t have a choice and by the time they should figure it out they’re so entrenched in the life they know they can’t escape. There was traveling escape room setup with poverty related issues. I wish everyone could experience it. I didn’t come from much and it was still incredibly eye opening with modern scenarios. Maybe my empathy and hope for the little ones who have parents who don’t give a crap is too high. Tough when you’ve seen so many. I wish everyone kid could break out of it but few really do. Gov’t help isn’t the solution, but I don’t know what is either.

 

[eyexer]

I agree hard times make tough people. But generational poverty is something I witnessed full scale. I taught in a school I went to as a child. I saw many of the same families of my childhood still there struggling. Kids who grow up not knowing any different end up in the same spot. I’m not saying this would solve the problem, it won’t. But poverty is engrained and not always so easy to break out of. Kids don’t have a choice and by the time they should figure it out they’re so entrenched in the life they know they can’t escape. There was traveling escape room setup with poverty related issues. I wish everyone could experience it. I didn’t come from much and it was still incredibly eye opening with modern scenarios. Maybe my empathy and hope for the little ones who have parents who don’t give a crap is too high. Tough when you’ve seen so many. I wish everyone kid could break out of it but few really do. Gov’t help isn’t the solution, but I don’t know what is either.

Government help isn’t the solution. If it was there wouldn’t be the insane number of homeless there is in California. Some chose to continue down the poverty path. Only they can decide if they want that or don’t. In ND with jobs galore there is no reason for any poverty. In the overwhelming majority of cases it’s sheer laziness

 

[Muleybuck]

Kids living in poverty already know the value of a dollar and as far as motivation they get that when they see how other children live and what others have that they don't and can't have. It takes at least 2 generation for a family to work out of the below standard living and into a good paying job. And a little bit of luck. Children didn't ask to be in this world and the least we could do is give them a fighting chance. A child's learning and body development are critical for a better future for them and society. Better to give them a chance when their in school verse on the system when they are older and have children of their own. I wonder what the medical issues adults wouldn't have, that would have been solved by at least 1 meal a day while in school. As far as spending your neighbors money your right we shouldn't so let quit doing it then. Lets quit giving out free narcan, child tax credits, free health insurance, business startup grants, or bailing out the auto industry and banking industries. Maybe we should quit subsiding farmers, oil and coal industries, electrical companies, transportation industries, day cares, solar power, internet companies, medical research and do away all student loans & grants. Heck let's do away with FEMA, NASA, and the Census Bureau. No extra tax return, your only getting back what you paid in. People given a life sentence with no parole for crimes, just eliminate them all together. Why house and feed them, they are just taking up good resources. Let everyone support themselves and place everyone on the same playing field. And let's call that "Advance Civilization." UFF DA

There are ways of helping people with out putting a burden on the system and doing so is just the Christian thing to do.

 

[1lessdog]

In MN they got rid of Recess and Gym Class because the Non sports kids were 2 fat to join in.

I don't know where you get your information? Because I take a 7th grader to school everyday of the week and I drive by two Elementary School and both of them have kids out for recess everyday. And the 7th grader has gym 3 days a week.

 

[Skeeter]

Feed your own damn kids. I feed my own.

 

[Colt45]

There are ways of helping people with out putting a burden on the system and doing so is just the Christian thing to do.

There is already help for kids who need a free lunch in ND, nobody is going hungry now. Over 37,000 ND kids get a free lunch now.
https://ndkidscount.org/the-impact-of-school-meals-on-communities

Current Lunch Eligibility in North Dakota

• • Federal Free/Reduced Program: Students from families meeting traditional federal income thresholds or participating in programs like SNAP or TANF receive free or reduced-price meals.
  • State Expanded Guidelines: North Dakota covers meals for households at or below 225% of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, this equals an income of about $72,000.
  • Covered Fees: The state pays the remaining fees for students who qualify for reduced-price meals (making them free to the student).
  • Reservation Schools: Some schools on American Indian reservations offer free meals to all students through federal options like the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP)
  
  Free breakfast and lunch is just a government expansion which will be ripe with fraud and waste, to the tune of hundreds of millions.

 

[Ruttin]

Yep, and who gave us socialized healthcare?
Obummer and RINO John McCain
McCain deserves his props for his military service to our country but that vote he cast was a TDS vote, along with
RINOs Collin’s of Maine and Murkowski from Alaska
What a disaster the ACA act has been for we the people
The government can’t solve any of our “problems”
All the government does is hamstring us and divide us, which I guess is politics
We suffer while the lawmakers exempt themselves from the “laws” they pass
We need a serious correction from the status quo and desperately need term limits for our federal lawmakers, to include both parties as neither has our best interest at heart

Mc Cain is a traitor. Period. Carry on

 

[eyexer]

Kids living in poverty already know the value of a dollar and as far as motivation they get that when they see how other children live and what others have that they don't and can't have. It takes at least 2 generation for a family to work out of the below standard living and into a good paying job. And a little bit of luck. Children didn't ask to be in this world and the least we could do is give them a fighting chance. A child's learning and body development are critical for a better future for them and society. Better to give them a chance when their in school verse on the system when they are older and have children of their own. I wonder what the medical issues adults wouldn't have, that would have been solved by at least 1 meal a day while in school. As far as spending your neighbors money your right we shouldn't so let quit doing it then. Lets quit giving out free narcan, child tax credits, free health insurance, business startup grants, or bailing out the auto industry and banking industries. Maybe we should quit subsiding farmers, oil and coal industries, electrical companies, transportation industries, day cares, solar power, internet companies, medical research and do away all student loans & grants. Heck let's do away with FEMA, NASA, and the Census Bureau. No extra tax return, your only getting back what you paid in. People given a life sentence with no parole for crimes, just eliminate them all together. Why house and feed them, they are just taking up good resources. Let everyone support themselves and place everyone on the same playing field. And let's call that "Advance Civilization." UFF DA

There are ways of helping people with out putting a burden on the system and doing so is just the Christian thing to do.

The kids your referring to already get free meals

 

[Muleybuck]

Just so you know the facts, its been said on this forum that 37,000 ND kids get a free lunch now. In 2025 there were 116,365 K-12 enrollments. So approximately 30 percent are sign up for free lunch. Not all kids are getting free lunch. There are kids raising themselves because their parents are incapable of taking care of them so the paper work didn't get fill out. Kids being raised by grandparents that are on fix income whether it be SS or disability that don't qualify. Not all parents were afford the education to get a high or good paying job. Parents that are in debt because of daily medical cost but don't qualify for free lunch due to their income. And worse the kid that does want to be bullied or teased because he gets a free meal. It is my believe that it's not the low income families nor the bleeding hearts that are behind this measure. No, it's the people that are paying for their kids lunches now. People that have the means but want more in their pockets. Because they are saying if so & so kids get free lunch why not mine. I will not be voting for this measure because I believe that if anything it should be a line item in the budget not a constitution measure and reviewed every 2 years. Doesn't mean that if it were word different the next time I would vote for it either. Also for this forum to blame low income parents and poor kids for this ballot measure is sad, ridiculous and makes me sick. Comments like who is feeding the fat kid in the summer or I feed my kids so feed your own, or feeding your kid who does not have an income is squarely the parents responsibility, or not giving a child free lunch because of the nation childhood obesity rates are up, just goes to show just how messed up some of your are. Some of you have never gone to bed hunger nor to work with nothing in your lunch bucket. Not everyone is privileged or born with a silver spoon or afforded the opportunity to go to college or parents that just couldn't afford to do better. But you keep looking through your rose colored glasses and I can only hope that some day you'll need a helping hand, then some snobbish person reminds you just how cruel and cold this world can really be and tells you, "I can afford it why can't you."

 

[NDSportsman]

Just so you know the facts, its been said on this forum that 37,000 ND kids get a free lunch now. In 2025 there were 116,365 K-12 enrollments. So approximately 30 percent are sign up for free lunch. Not all kids are getting free lunch. There are kids raising themselves because their parents are incapable of taking care of them so the paper work didn't get fill out. Kids being raised by grandparents that are on fix income whether it be SS or disability that don't qualify. Not all parents were afford the education to get a high or good paying job. Parents that are in debt because of daily medical cost but don't qualify for free lunch due to their income. And worse the kid that does want to be bullied or teased because he gets a free meal. It is my believe that it's not the low income families nor the bleeding hearts that are behind this measure. No, it's the people that are paying for their kids lunches now. People that have the means but want more in their pockets. Because they are saying if so & so kids get free lunch why not mine. I will not be voting for this measure because I believe that if anything it should be a line item in the budget not a constitution measure and reviewed every 2 years. Doesn't mean that if it were word different the next time I would vote for it either. Also for this forum to blame low income parents and poor kids for this ballot measure is sad, ridiculous and makes me sick. Comments like who is feeding the fat kid in the summer or I feed my kids so feed your own, or feeding your kid who does not have an income is squarely the parents responsibility, or not giving a child free lunch because of the nation childhood obesity rates are up, just goes to show just how messed up some of your are. Some of you have never gone to bed hunger nor to work with nothing in your lunch bucket. Not everyone is privileged or born with a silver spoon or afforded the opportunity to go to college or parents that just couldn't afford to do better. But you keep looking through your rose colored glasses and I can only hope that some day you'll need a helping hand, then some snobbish person reminds you just how cruel and cold this world can really be and tells you, "I can afford it why can't you."

It has nothing to do with paperwork or any other excuse you can think of, no kid is denied lunch at school right now. End of story!

This is a solution to a problem that does not exist! It's nothing more then another earmark for tax money! It's fucking fraud is what it is and it's time people fucking call it what it is!

 

[zoops]

I agree hard times make tough people. But generational poverty is something I witnessed full scale. I taught in a school I went to as a child. I saw many of the same families of my childhood still there struggling. Kids who grow up not knowing any different end up in the same spot. I’m not saying this would solve the problem, it won’t. But poverty is engrained and not always so easy to break out of. Kids don’t have a choice and by the time they should figure it out they’re so entrenched in the life they know they can’t escape. There was traveling escape room setup with poverty related issues. I wish everyone could experience it. I didn’t come from much and it was still incredibly eye opening with modern scenarios. Maybe my empathy and hope for the little ones who have parents who don’t give a crap is too high. Tough when you’ve seen so many. I wish everyone kid could break out of it but few really do. Gov’t help isn’t the solution, but I don’t know what is either.

You hit the nail on the head there. Same could be said in the homeless thread. We all want to help, but throwing money at it isn't going to make it go away - sad stuff.

 

[OL Deadeye]

I don't know where you get your information? Because I take a 7th grader to school everyday of the week and I drive by two Elementary School and both of them have kids out for recess everyday. And the 7th grader has gym 3 days a week.

3 days a week ?? thought school was 5 days a week must be new math now !!!

 

[tikkalover]

Those of you that say, take the money out of the states slush fund, do you think that would actually happen? I do not, they will tax us harder.

For those of you that want to pay for the kids' lunch, GOOD ON YOU, have the government take more money out of YOUR check or donate some money YOU have stashed away.

My wife and I have and did pay to feed our kids when they went to school, I don't think we should pay for someone else's kids to eat, that should be up to the kids' parents. IT's CALLED BEING RESPONSIBLE!

Can I afford to feed someone else's kids in school? The answer is, yes, I can. But in the end, I will choose to give my money to my kids and grandkids.