Universal school meal programs received federal funding in all U.S. states during the 2020-2022 school years to address increased food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. California became the first state to continue this initiative by providing state funding for universal school meals, beginning with the 2022-2023 school year.
Researchers from the Nutrition Policy Institute have been assessing the effects of California’s universal school meal policy since its launch. Their 2024 study, “The Benefits and Challenges of Providing School Meals during the First Year of California’s Universal School Meal Policy as Reported by School Foodservice Professionals,” was recently highlighted as a featured paper in Nutrients journal’s section on nutritional inequality and public policy research. This section recognizes highly-cited papers on these topics.
In addition, another publication by the team in 2024, titled “Household Food Insecurity Is Associated with Parental Perceptions of and Student Participation in School Meals,” is under consideration for the Nutrients Best Paper Award. The award is given annually to acknowledge scientific publications with significant influence and quality. Winners are expected to be announced online by June 2026.
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), which supports this research, enhances lives across California by sharing science-based practices through research and outreach initiatives that support communities statewide. UC ANR operates offices in all 58 counties and maintains nine Research and Extension Centers as living laboratories across diverse ecosystems (https://ucanr.edu/). The organization applies University of California expertise to areas such as nutrition, food networks, youth education, farming, environmental conservation, and wildfire protection while building collaborations throughout the state (https://ucanr.edu/). Glenda Humiston serves as vice president of UC ANR (https://ucanr.edu/).