Kathy Webb, a well-known progressive and the chief executive officer of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, pointed to the many state leaders in the Chicot Elementary cafeteria in Southwest Little Rock Wednesday morning as she praised Gov. Sarah Sanders for taking a stand against child hunger.
“There are a lot of unlikely partnerships that have formed focusing on this issue,” Webb said in a room filled with lawmakers and officials from across the political spectrum, along with educators and kids. “I know if we continue working together, this is something that we can 100% address. We can make Arkansas the leader instead of being at the bottom of the pack when it comes to food insecurity.”
Bipartisan legislation was passed last year in Act 656 — sponsored by Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe) and Sen. Clarke Tucker (D-Little Rock) — allowing any student eligible for reduced-price meals to receive them for free.
Dismang and Tucker were among the crowd at Chicot Wednesday morning to kick off School Breakfast Month.
“We know that kids that have breakfast are going to do better in school and their attendance is going to be higher,” Sanders said. “The overall learning and health of the student is going to be better because they’re not going to be thinking about where their next meal is going to be coming from if they start their day off with a good breakfast.”
USDA Southwest Regional Administrator Bill Ludwig was on hand, and praised Sanders for championing the summer Electronic Benefit Transfer initiative to provide $120 in food benefits for each Arkansas child eligible for free or reduced lunches. The National School Lunch Program is a U.S. Department of Agriculture service that provides free or reduced meals for low-income children.
“A hungry child cannot learn,” Ludwig said.
Other Republican governors rejected the federal benefit for summer meals, calling it welfare. Sanders won praise for not turning back the federal money. She said at the time that she would “leverage every resource” to fight hunger in Arkansas, especially for children.
Before the buttoned-up speeches in the cafeteria, Sanders spent time chatting easily with students in their classrooms, laughing at responses when she asked for their favorite breakfast foods.
“Burritos.”
“Frosted Flakes.”
“Sausage.”
“Burgers.”
“Burgers?” she said. “Burgers for breakfast?”
A mother of three, Sanders said her own children, if asked the same question, would choose things such as donuts or other pastries. She watched as the children ate from a plastic breakfast bag that contained a juice box, milk, fruit cup and a biscuit.
“They wouldn’t act nearly as healthy as you are right now,” she said.
Sanders told the children she cared about them and their school and that was why School Breakfast Month was being celebrated.
“If you have a good breakfast, you learn better all day and it’s better for your body overall,” she said.
