Washington, D.C. — This school year, the recipe for student success is missing one key ingredient: school meals. Last summer, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) made historic cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid, creating a domino effect now hitting school cafeterias.
When families lose access to SNAP and Medicaid, their automatic eligibility for free school meals is at risk; when enough families lose this eligibility status, entire schools and districts can lose access. It is already happening, as districts such as Miami-Dade County Public Schools are forced to make tough decisions to end universal free meals. Nearly 34 million public school students across the country rely on this critical access to food. Without it, their families will have to spend, on average, nearly $1,000 per child each school year to cover the cost of school-offered meals—putting additional strain on families’ wallets amid an affordability crisis.
Join the Center for American Progress, alongside local leaders, parents, and nutrition and federal policy experts, to discuss the impact of the OBBBA on school nutrition and how leaders are working to protect critical access to school meals.
WHO:
Keynote speaker:
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), U.S. House of Representatives
Panelists:
Susan Cavendish, Parent and Community Organizer, Ohio
Cindy Long, Former Deputy Undersecretary for Food Nutrition and Consumer Services, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Lauren Weyand, Director of School Nutrition, Craven County Schools, North Carolina
Moderator:
Paige Shoemaker DeMio, Senior Policy Analyst, K-12 Education, Center for American Progress
WHEN:
Tuesday, November 17, 2026
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. EST
WHERE:
Online via Zoom.
To join the virtual audience, please RSVP here.
If you have questions for our panel, please submit them on Zoom during the event.
For more information or to speak to an expert, contact Mishka Espey at [email protected].