Purplish Colorado’s ‘Healthy School Meals for All’ is at a crossroads. Voters will decide where it goes
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Oct 17, 2025 Jenny Brundin, an education reporter for CPR, breaks down the challenges facing Colorado's Healthy School Meals for All program. She discusses the financial strain on the initiative, originally funded by a tax on the wealthy. The conversation covers two crucial ballot measures aimed at solving the funding crisis and the implications for students across the state. Topics include the program’s success in providing universal meals, political opposition to new taxes, and what might happen if voters don’t support the proposed measures.
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Kids Describe Why Free Lunch Matters
- Students at York International described enjoying pizza crunchers, cheese toast, blueberries, and pears during lunch.
- They also said free meals help classmates who can't afford lunch at home so everyone can eat.
School Meals Improve Behavior And Learning
- Research links meal skipping and hunger to worse concentration, motivation, and higher suspension rates among teens.
- Teachers report behavioral improvements when students have reliable access to meals at school.
Voters Approved Universal School Meals
- Proposition FF in 2022 raised taxes on high earners to fund free meals for all K-12 public students.
- The measure passed by nearly 60% and launched the Healthy School Meals for All program in 2023-24.