The 'Missing Middle': How To Feed America's Neglected Kids At School

Vermont state Sen. Brian Campion shares the upsetting testimonials that prompted his state to pass a bill that feeds kids and develops the local economy, too.

In this edition of Voices In Food, Vermont state Sen. Brian Campion (D) shares how he helped guarantee that his state’s schoolchildren all have access to local, fresh foods for the 2022-23 school year through a one-year pilot project meant to extend the federal government’s COVID-relief programs. Campion’s take shows how granting this kind of access to healthy food helps the “missing middle” (families that don’t qualify for federal free and reduced-price school lunches, but are still experiencing food insecurity).

One of the things that people always ask when weighing legislation is where do you want to put your first dollar? We know that Vermont’s lowest-income students qualify for free and reduced lunch, a federal program. We knew that these kids would be covered no matter what. So the question was asked: Do we really need to set aside taxpayer dollars to pay for middle- and upper-middle-class kids whose families can afford food? This was a big question for lawmakers, myself included.