California Offers Free Meals For School Kids, “We Did It First,” Said Indians

Healthy and nutritious food is essential for school children. The importance of a good quality meal cannot be understated, especially in the growing and learning years. Recognizing this fact, the state of California started a new Universal Meals Program beginning from the school year 2022-23. According to the new legislation, children from kindergarten to 12th grade in California, USA will be provided free breakfast and lunch irrespective of their socio-economic status. This is the first state to incorporate such a meal program for children in the United States. The news was shared by multiple publications and surfaced on Reddit too in the sub-Reddit r/MadeMeSmile, where it got over 150k upvotes. Take a look:

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While the universal meal program by California did get some appreciation, Indian users on Reddit were quick to point out that the Mid-Day Meal scheme had been there in the country since the mid-1980s or early 1990s. Indians proudly shared this information with fellow users on the platform.

The Mid-Day Meal scheme is sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the central government. It provides a free meal to a whopping 11.80 crore children studying in classes 1-8 at government schools across the country. A sum of Rs. 24,400 crores has been invested in this scheme as per government data.

Some Indian Reddit users also said that their state-provided, not just free meals, but also other school essentials such as books, uniforms and bicycles. “The state where I live provides free buses to school-going children, free books, free uniforms, total education cost is negligible, free bicycles and laptops to higher secondary students,” said a Reddit user. “Well at least the help is going to people who need it,” said another one.

Take a look at the best reactions on Reddit:

What did you think of the free meal scheme for school-going children? Tell us in the comments.

About Aditi AhujaAditi loves talking to and meeting like-minded foodies (especially the kind who like veg momos). Plus points if you get her bad jokes and sitcom references, or if you recommend a new place to eat at.