Georgia families are facing growing pressure from food costs, and new research shows that school lunch debt is part of the challenge. A statewide Emory University poll found that 6% of Georgia students carry school lunch debt. Among families with debt, the median amount owed is $25, while one-quarter owe $100 or more.
The findings were highlighted by CBS News Atlanta in May, bringing attention to the connection between unpaid school meal balances and broader food insecurity across the state.
Food Insecurity Is Affecting Families Across Georgia
Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health surveyed 1,002 Georgia parents. Researchers found that 33% of Georgia families with children experience low or very low food security. Nearly one in five families reported very low food security, meaning household members had skipped meals, felt hungry or gone without eating because there was not enough money for food.
Food prices are also changing how families spend. About 60% of surveyed families said higher prices had caused them to change their food spending habits. One-quarter of parents reported cutting or skipping meals during the previous year because they did not have enough money for food.
Those pressures can follow children into school. When a family is already making difficult decisions about groceries and household expenses, keeping money in a student meal account can become one more challenge.
School Lunch Debt Is Showing Up in Georgia Schools
CBS News Atlanta reported on the issue from Sugar Hill Elementary School, where Principal Nick Boyers said the school typically carries between $500 and $1,000 in student lunch debt at any given time. He also emphasized that the school does not turn away a hungry student.
That matters because access to lunch is about more than an account balance. Hunger can interfere with a student’s ability to focus, learn and participate in the school day.
The Emory findings also put the scale of individual balances into perspective. Full-price school lunches in Georgia generally cost only a few dollars per meal, yet a quarter of families with school lunch debt reported owing $100 or more. Small unpaid charges can build over weeks and months into a significant burden.
All for Lunch Is Helping Take the Burden Off Students’ Plates
CBS News Atlanta also highlighted All for Lunch and its work with schools and districts to eliminate unpaid student meal balances. At the time of the report, All for Lunch had raised more than $2 million nationwide since its launch, including more than $600,000 contributed to schools in Georgia.
All for Lunch founder Alessandra Ferrara-Miller told CBS News Atlanta that for some children, school lunch may be the only meal they know they will have that day. That is why lunch debt should never become a burden a student is expected to carry.
Our goal is simple: help ensure students have access to lunch at school, regardless of their financial situation at home.
Helping Georgia Students
The new research offers another reminder that school lunch debt does not exist in isolation. It can be one visible sign of the financial pressure families are experiencing. Individuals and communities can help by supporting schools and programs working to keep students fed. Support All for Lunch’s work to eliminate school lunch debt across Georgia.
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