Kids across New York returned to classrooms this year with one less worry—getting free school meals, no questions asked.
Starting this school year, 2.7 million students in New York can count on free breakfast and lunch at school, regardless of family income. New York is now the ninth state in the nation to guarantee access to free school meals, the result of a historic $340 million investment in the FY 2026 state budget.
This landmark legislation affirms New York’s position as a leader in the fight against child hunger and ensures that every child can go to school each day knowing nutritious meals are waiting for them.
The Road to Victory
This victory followed a tireless three-year advocacy campaign led by the Healthy School Meals for All New York Kids (HSMFA) coalition, a group of more than 350 nonprofits, parent and teacher groups, labor unions, and anti-hunger organizations. After the expiration of federal waivers that allowed schools to serve free meals to all students during the pandemic, Hunger Solutions New York partnered with Community Food Advocates in 2022 to co-found the HSMFA NY Kids coalition. Our work began with the simple but transformative goal of ensuring every New York student can have a free school breakfast and lunch every school day, a policy long championed by our organization and many partners.
The Healthy School Meals for All NY Kids campaign quickly gained statewide momentum, earning widespread media attention, editorial board endorsements, and bipartisan support from both houses of the legislature, led by prime sponsors Senator Michelle Hinchey and Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas. Our first big win came in the FY 2024 state budget, which included $134.6 million to create a new Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) State Subsidy. The CEP State Subsidy was a critical step toward universal meals, expanding access to more than 380,000 students in 1,400 schools.
The expansion of free school meals in the 2023-2024 school year got off to a strong start thanks to timely and effective implementation by the New York State Education Department (SED). The agency collaborated with local school leaders to ensure the swift adoption of CEP by all eligible schools, enabling the subsidy to have an immediate impact across the state. Within months, more New York schools than ever leveraged this historic investment to offer free school meals to all students.
With the goal of maximizing the impact of the CEP State Subsidy, Hunger Solutions New York partnered with the State Education Department to raise awareness of this new funding, supported CEP-eligible schools in applying for and implementing free school meals, and worked with lawmakers to spread the word. Our assessment of this expansion—based on surveys of New York parents/caregivers and schools—underscored the transformative impact of universal free school meals across the state. Findings showed reduced hunger for children, meaningful financial relief for families, and improved meal operations for schools where meals were available free to all.
While significant, this expansion still left more than 280,000 children without guaranteed access to meals at school. Our coalition remained steadfast in its campaign for equitable access to school meals through a truly universal school meal policy. In January 2025, Governor Hochul made a historic commitment to ending hunger in schools by including funding for statewide universal free school meals in her executive budget. Universal school meals, which save families $165 per child each month, became the cornerstone of Governor Hochul’s affordability agenda and quickly emerged as her most popular policy in the budget. With strong support from the governor and both houses of the legislature, universal school meals were fully funded in the FY 2026 state budget, an unprecedented investment in mitigating hunger in our schools. The policy was officially enacted in the 2025-2026 school year.
What’s Next Now that Meals Are Free for All?
Now that universal school meals are a reality in New York, Hunger Solutions New York is committed to strong implementation of the policy’s requirements, sustaining this investment for generations to come, and continuing to expand food access to children through federal nutrition assistance programs.
We continue to serve as a resource to state agencies, schools, community-based organizations, and other key stakeholders. In partnership with the New York State PTA, we are raising awareness of the new SNAP outreach requirements under New York’s universal school meals law, while also providing one-on-one support to schools to inform families about the availability of food assistance through SNAP.
With the benefit of universal school meals, schools are well-positioned to reach more kids with meals during and beyond the school day. We continue to offer one-on-one support to help schools improve student access to school breakfast and implement additional child nutrition programs. Our Roadmap for Schools to Feed More Kids offers strategies and outreach resources that support a robust meal program, further improve access, and connect children and families to other vital nutrition programs, including summer meals, afterschool meals, SNAP, and WIC.
New York has taken bold action to end hunger in schools. For families, schools, and, most importantly, children, universal free school meals are a game-changer. Kids receive nutritious meals without stigma, families save time and money, and schools can focus on educating and nourishing students.
Hunger Solutions New York is deeply grateful to the many partners and funders who contributed to this effort, from the early stages of coalition building to policy implementation and evaluation. We thank the New York Health Foundation, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, the New York Community Trust – Westchester, and the New York Community Trust – Long Island for their generous support of our work to expand access to school meals.
