After the introduction of the Family Package and the free meals provided for students in grades 5-10, we heard quite a few arguments against it: the measure is expensive. Children from affluent families would also receive free lunches. Schools might lack space, staff, and some of the food could end up in the trash.
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These are serious questions that need answers. However, the discussion about free meals in schools lacks one important aspect – the answer to what we truly want to achieve with this measure.
Free meals alone will not increase birth rates. However, they can reduce the daily financial and organizational burden on families, ensure children receive nutritious food, and help form healthy eating habits.
The principle of social justice is also important: there should be no “support recipients” and “non-recipients” in the school cafeteria. All children sit at the same table, regardless of their parents’ income and social status.
Making lunches free is not enough
If we simply fund more of the same lunches that some children today do not want to eat, critics’ arguments about food waste will be justified.
Therefore, the meal model itself must change along with free meals.
One solution is the buffet principle, allowing the child to choose what and how much to put on their plate. Another is more fresh, locally prepared food and a shorter path from Lithuanian farmers to the student’s plate.
This means we are not only talking about social policy. We are also talking about children’s health, food culture, local farms, and regional economies.
466 million children worldwide are fed at school
School meals are neither a new nor a unique social policy measure for Lithuania.
According to the latest World Food Programme data, at least 466 million children worldwide receive school meals. This number has increased by about 80 million over four years.
This is important because school meals are increasingly seen not only as aid for low-income families. They are also an investment in children’s health, learning, and the formation of healthier eating habits.
A child spends a large part of their day at school. Therefore, school is one of the places where we can not only talk about healthy eating but also practically teach it.
Good food starts closer to home
Agriculture Minister Kęstutis Mažeika identifies the development of short food supply chains in schools as an opportunity to achieve several goals at once – offer children fresher food and provide local farmers with a more reliable market.
This model can already be seen at Simnas Gymnasium in Alytus district, and in kindergartens and schools in Ukmergė and Lazdijai district municipalities. Their experience shows a simple thing: it is not enough to tell a child that they must eat what is on the plate. We must create a cafeteria and meals that the child wants to come to.
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This is also important in response to another criticism – that schools are not ready for a larger number of eating children. In some places, they really are not. Therefore, universal feeding cannot be introduced without investing in kitchens, cafeterias, staff, and meal organization.
School lunches should not be seen only as another service purchased by the municipality. What we eat in childhood shapes not only our health today but also habits and quality of life in the future. Therefore, feeding children in educational institutions cannot be just a daily menu issue – it is an investment in our children’s health, local farms, and the country’s future.
This is not a radical idea in Europe
Lithuania does not need to reinvent everything from scratch.
Finland was the first country in the world to legally establish free school meals for all students. The decision was made back in 1943, and since 1948 free meals have been available to all students. Today, free lunches in Finland are a normal part of the education system and are associated not only with social support but also with children’s health, eating habits, and education.
In Sweden, free meals are also a universal part of school. There, attention is paid not only to whether a child receives lunch but also to its nutritional value and quality.
France has chosen another important direction – raising requirements for products entering the public catering system. At least 50% of the products used must meet sustainability and quality criteria, and at least 20% must be organic.
These examples show that the question should not be just “who will pay for lunch?”. We must also ask “what will the child get for that money?”
Yes, it will cost. Therefore, we must do it well
Free meals for students in grades 5–10 will not be a cheap measure. That is why we cannot understand it as simply shifting the lunch bill from parents to the state.
If we invest hundreds of millions of euros, we must also raise requirements for the outcome.
Less food waste. More choice for the child. More fresh and local food. Stronger short food supply chains. More modern school cafeterias. And healthy eating habits that the child takes from school for life.
Then free meals become not just a social measure. It is an investment in children’s health, support for families, an opportunity to strengthen local farms, and a way to practically teach healthy eating habits at school.
Free lunches should not just mean more lunches. They must mean better food for children.
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