Lawmakers rally in rain for school breakfast bill
BOSTON - Gathered in the rain outside the Statehouse on Tuesday, a group of about two dozen ralliers held signs telling the stories of people experiencing hunger in Massachusetts - among them, a gig worker who relies on supplemental food assistance between jobs, and a disabled man on a fixed income who uses food stamps to buy the healthier foods his doctor recommends.“The weather is illustrative sometimes of how I think it feels to be battling hunger issues, right,” state Rep. Hannah Kane told the group. “It always feels like we’re battling something.”The demonstration, organized by the Greater Boston Food Bank and other organizations, was part of Hunger Action Month.The national organization Feeding America says 652,760 Massachusetts residents - or one in 10 people - are struggling with hunger, including 167,450 children.Ralliers recognized Kane, a Shrewsbury Republican, and Democratic state Sen. Sal DiDomenico of Everett and Rep. Jay Livingstone of Boston for their work combating hunger.The group called on the House to pass a Senate-backed bill that would require schools where at least 60 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals to offer breakfast after the instructional day begins. The bill outlines breakfast service models that include “breakfast in the classroom, grab and go breakfast or second chance breakfast.”With more than three months left in the legislative session, the “breakfast after the bell” bill, sponsored by DiDomenico, is now before the House Ways and Means Committee. It passed the Senate unanimously on July 26.“Breakfast after the bell, to get kids into school and performing much better, is incredibly key, and I hope we can still get that done this year,” Livingstone said.Bills require unanimous votes to advance during informal sessions, but very few lawmakers attend the sessions.
Martha Assefa, manager of the Worcester Food Policy Council, called hunger a political issue and urged the crowd to ask “everyone on the ballot” for their plan to end hunger.
“That should be a question that is as commonplace as ‘What’s your plan for jobs?’ ” she said.As the rally broke up, Assefa offered a parting note to participants: “For anyone who’s hungry, we are getting pizza.”
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