13000+ students gathered in the main gym with a row of junior and senior candidates sitting in a line below on 10/5/23. The student body elections began with applause from the crowd, which led to promise after promise from each candidate.  The loudest and rowdiest cheer from the crowd, though, came from an unlikely topic: free school lunch. When Junior candidate Mathieu King trying to convince the students why he would be best to bring back free and reduced lunches; the crowd went wild. Promises of marching to the district office created an atmosphere of revolt and defiance, stirring the crowd to cheer for rebellion in pursuit of free lunches. 

   Here’s the funny thing: free school lunch is not out of reach, nor is the process complicated. It involves filling out a form that can be found at the front office or by clicking a link for an online form. If a certain threshold is met by kids who qualify, then it is required by the state for the district to provide the entire school funding for free lunches, which could also lead to funding for other programs though grants. Each student in the school is “worth” a certain amount of money, depending on attendance. By having the school qualify for free lunches, it raises the amount per student – giving the school more funds. There is no downside to having free lunches. The quality of food is not affected; it just increases the amount that the school has contracted with our food supplier. 

     As uncomplicated as the process for free lunches is, all students focus on is the fact that it is not free, so the boldest promise of free food sparks false hope amongst the student body. Students become chaotic and bash the school or district for withholding this privilege from them, but it is up to parents and students to take the necessary steps to show that our school qualifies. The reason the process is not discussed is that staff are not allowed to encourage individual students to sign up and fill the form out. The only thing holding us back from free lunches is the students themselves. We already have enough students to qualify, based on the number of feeder schools and Oregon’s schoolwide free lunch threshold, it is within reach. The Eugene district has decided to make free lunches available by increasing awareness of the application process.

     Anyone who really knows how the process works would look at the reaction of our student body getting riled up by false words as well as agreeing with the speech before fact-checking his words. Double-checking sources is an important skill that is taught in school for dealing with situations like these. Not knowing how to gain free lunch caused the downfall of many students, next time promises are heard, look at the background, research the topic don’t be naive, and copy what you hear for it may not be correct. Spread the process and give the student body what it deserves: free lunch.