In April 2020, Voices for Healthy Kids launched our “geotargeting pilot,” designed to strategically align local, state and federal support around securing strong nutritional standards for school meals.

We took to Kansas because Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts—now retired—was the Chair of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal child nutrition programs. Voices for Healthy Kids funded Community Health Council (CHC) of Wyandotte County and Kansas City Healthy Kids, which joined forces with Groundwork NRG, a local social justice organization, to train youth food justice advocates to build support for healthier school meals.

Shifting Focus Amid the Pandemic

When the COVID-19 pandemic drastically increased food insecurity for many families*, the advocates purposely shifted focus from nutrition to food equity. Groundwork NRG, which operates a summer youth program, developed a virtual youth advocacy training curriculum that could be used to advocate for any issue, including food access and security.

During summer 2021, the three partners trained more than 20 middle and high school students, immersing them in an intensive, virtual, eight-session curriculum that addressed issues like social determinants of health and social inequities, in addition to teaching them advocacy techniques.

Nearly three-quarters of participating students were Black and came from families with low household incomes. Several came from families who struggled with food insecurity themselves. Most students lived in neighborhoods with little or no access to grocery stores or reliable public transportation.

“This was an opportunity for students to better understand the interconnectedness of policies and health outcomes and the impact access to vital resources has in helping them reach their full health potential,” said CHC Executive Director Donna Young.

Students Take Charge of Their Own Campaign

When it came time to put what they learned into practice, the students co-designed their own advocacy campaign, with guidance from the course facilitators and content experts. They focused their efforts on building support for the Universal School Meals Program Act of 2021 (S. 1530/H.R. 3115), which would provide free school meals for all students in schools that participate in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) school meal programs. The students crafted their message points and created and practiced a presentation for policymakers.

They identified policymakers whose endorsement they sought for the bill: U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall and Kansas City Public Schools’ director of nutritional services, Josh Mathiasmeier.

The students met with a staff member from Rep. Davids’ office and had a similar meeting with Mathiasmeier. In addition, the students created an advocacy alert to promote healthy school meals for all. The Kansas Food Action Network, part of Kansas City Healthy Kids, sent the alert, which was read by almost 500 people.

The meetings were successful. Mathiasmeier responded with a video endorsement of the bill, and Rep. Davids’ staff member indicated that his boss supported the concept. This type of advocacy is paying off in ways beyond garnering support for the legislation. In April 2021, USDA used their authority granted and extended by Congress to allow schools to serve healthy school meals for all for the 2021-2022 school year, and advocates are continuing to extend that authority for the 2022-2023 school year.  

Student feedback on the program was overwhelmingly positive. A survey conducted after the campaign found that all the students agreed they had learned more about social determinants of health and the importance of advocacy. More than 90% said they felt prepared to speak out and advocate for changes they desired in their communities as a result of participating in the program.

Erica Phung, Voices for Healthy Kids’ policy engagement manager for nutrition, said the Kansas pilot demonstrated how young people can build relationships with elected officials, adapt to changing circumstances quickly and convey clear and effective messages.

“School meals are sometimes the only meals that kids get every day. We need to make sure they can access them and that they are nutritious,” Phung said. “CHC, Kansas City Healthy Kids and Groundwork NRG helped students make this connection with decision-makers and bring them on board, even during the pandemic.”

 

*https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2021/september/pandemic-food-insecurity.html