School Meals for All: A Win Years in the Making
Slide through to see some photos of FEEST Fam, past, present, and future at Mayor Wilson’s Press Conference!
This is a big one, and we’re celebrating it the way it deserves.
On April 28, Mayor Katie Wilson announced a new spending plan for the FEPP Levy, a citywide investment in making Seattle a more affordable place for families. Included in that plan is a FEEST campaign win that we are celebrating super hard:
Starting in the fall of 2026, Seattle Public Schools will provide free school meals for all students.
And while this announcement feels big, it didn’t happen overnight.
This investment is about more than school meals. It’s about what young people need to actually thrive.
Through the FEPP Levy, the City of Seattle is investing in:
- Free school meals for all students
- Expanded mental health care and school-based health supports
- Early learning programs that set young people up from the start
- Pathways to college, careers, and life after graduation
All of these pieces are connected. When students have food, care, and real support systems around them, it changes what’s possible at school and beyond.
What is the FEPP Levy?
If you’re new to this, here’s the quick version:
The Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise (FEPP) Levy is a seven-year, voter-approved investment in Seattle’s youth. It funds things like early learning, school-based health services, college and career readiness, and post-secondary opportunities.
At its core, the FEPP Levy is about educational equity. It exists to make sure students, especially those who have been historically underserved, have what they need to learn, grow, and thrive.
This new investment in free school meals is one piece of that bigger vision.
A Long Time Coming
Image is of the Healthy Food Round Table Report Cover
FEEST has been working for years on food justice in schools, specifically working towards fresh, free, and culturally relevant school meals for all students.
Over a decade ago, Student Organizers at FEEST named something that should feel obvious but hasn’t always been treated that way. Students should be able to eat fresh, free, and culturally relevant food at school, without barriers, without stigma, and without having to prove they deserve it.
Back in 2019, FEEST youth released the Healthy Food Round Table (HFRT) report, grounded in real student and school staff experiences with school food. Young people didn’t hold back. They called for meals that were fresh, culturally relevant, and appetizing, and they pushed to remove barriers that kept students from accessing food in the first place.
At the heart of it was a clear demand: school food should be free for all students.
As one student, Ana, shared through the HFRT work: “I feel better because I’m not thinking about food anymore. I don’t have to worry about that. It’s about what is going on in class.”
And across the project, the conclusion was just as clear: providing students with fresh, free, and delicious food is a key ingredient for student success.
Building Toward This Moment
The image is the cover of the 2022-2023 Recommendations for School Meals and Food Education Report.
The Impact
FEEST and young people have been clear for years about why free school meals for all students matter, and we are thrilled to see this take shape.
Short term:
Removing barriers to accessing school meals and increasing student participation in the school meal program.
Medium term:
Improved academic outcomes, stronger physical and mental health, and increased well-being and food security, especially for BIPOC and low-income students.
Long term:
Sustained, equitable access to nutritious meals across Seattle schools, supporting families and setting a new standard for what students can expect from their education system.
FEEST has been working on many angles to make this vision a reality. FEEST young people have met and built relationships with Nutrition Services Directors, School Board Members, and school administration to discuss these goals. They’ve led research, like the HFRT, and shared that with decision-makers. Through this research and advocacy, FEEST became a founding member of the Seattle School Meals & Food Education Working Group, alongside the City of Seattle, other community organizations, students, school district staff, and public agencies, to help shape the future of school food in Seattle.
That work was grounded in the voices of young people who had a lot of say about school food and how we could work to make it better.
Through listening sessions and organizing, young people named what they needed:
- Free meals for all students
- Food that reflects their cultures and communities
- Meals that are fresh, cooked with care, and actually taste good
From that process, one of the top recommendations was clear:
Make school food free for all students.
Not as an idea. As a policy.
What This Win Really Means
This is a major step forward for students across Seattle.
School meals are one of the most consistent ways young people access food. For many students, it’s not just part of the day. It’s essential.
Free school meals mean:
- No more navigating applications or income thresholds
- Less stigma in cafeterias
- More students actually eating during the school day
- More support for families facing rising food costs
- No more school lunch debt for students and their families
It’s a shift toward treating food as what it is:
A basic need.
This work is connected directly to mental health. When students aren’t distracted by hunger, they’re more able to focus, regulate, and engage. Paired with the FEPP Levy’s expanded school-based mental health supports, this is about meeting students as whole people, not just in the classroom. And tbh we’re obsessed with that right now.
And We’re Not Done
Free meals matter, and we know this work doesn’t stop with Seattle.
Several years ago, the Highline School District implemented free school meals for all students, a major win shaped by years of FEEST students advocating, organizing, and pushing for food access in their schools.
Now, as Seattle takes this major step forward, we’re also keeping our eyes on what comes next. Free meals are a powerful foundation, and students have been clear that what’s on the plate matters too. We’re grateful to work alongside Nutrition Services in both Seattle Public Schools and Highline School District as they continue rolling out more fresh, culturally relevant, and student-informed meals.
We’re also excited to see more FEPP Levy resources moving toward mental health supports, another need that young people have been naming for years. Food access, mental health, and student well-being are deeply connected, and students deserve school systems that respond to all of it with care.
At FEEST, Student Organizers will keep organizing for schools that reflect their communities, support their health, and make space for joy, culture, and connection.
We want to thank Mayor Katie Wilson for making this a priority for her administration, along with the City of Seattle, the Office of Sustainability and Environment, Seattle Public Schools, and everyone who has been organizing for something so simple and so major: making sure students can eat!
Show FEEST some love!
Youth are in the lead at FEEST because we know that change is not effective unless those most impacted by health inequities are the decision makers. Support youth leadership by donating today, OR sign up for our newsletter to get the latest from FEEST!