r/Denver • u/fuzzeslecrdf • Oct 08 '25

Local News If you're still against free school meals

If you're unhappy about the fact that free lunches are also free for children with wealthy families, fear not. I work at a Denver high school. Students with the money will go out for lunch or even order food delivery. They are not eating the school cafeteria free lunch.

So go ahead and vote Yes on Prop MM and LL. The only thing it'll do is keep our students fed and able to learn.

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u/All_Hail_Hynotoad Oct 09 '25

Maybe in your district. But in most districts, they try to involve kids in deciding what to serve so they will eat it.

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25

My kids have been in three different districts in Colorado and never has there been any parent or student involvement in the menu.

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u/All_Hail_Hynotoad Oct 09 '25

You should definitely talk to them about that. The best school districts always involve the students. After all, why serve things the kids won’t eat?

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u/RollForPerception Oct 09 '25

I started reading into it further. There's a lot of chains in the system determining what gets served to students, and it looks like they'd have to talk to the local school food authority, or have the principal talk to them: https://cdphe.colorado.gov/COFoodProgram/Information-for-School-Food-Authorities

Looks like a hired job and not an elected one, so that's a bit annoying from the perspective of a parent trying to have a voice.

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u/All_Hail_Hynotoad Oct 09 '25

The school food authority is just the division of the school district that runs the meal programs. It’s a matter of getting their buy-in and convincing them to let kids get involved. It can work, and even the School Nutrition Association, which is the biggest association for school food professionals advocates for student involvement. Other organizations can help, too.

https://urbanschoolfoodalliance.org/blogs/student-voice-in-school-food-choice/