Great to spend some time today in my hometown of Fayetteville, talking with military spouses about the importance of NC agriculture. (A certain former president campaigned in Fayetteville today as well.)
Hi everyone! It's the last day of the month! We're at the point of the campaign where basic costs (staff! IT maintenance!) are fully covered—whatever you give goes directly into outreach.
Individually, these problems were devastating. But together they were a match made in New Deal heaven. The USDA bought excess food from farmers, and served it to students for free. (In case you ever wondered why the school lunch program lives in USDA, that’s why.)
The Depression had two food problems: farms were growing too much of it, driving farm prices down and putting farms out of business. At the same time, lots of non-farmers still couldn’t afford to buy food.
And let’s be clear: Congress didn’t start school lunches in 1946. They just made them permanent. The US made a temporary school lunch program during the Great Depression. Why?
Project 2025 even cites the USDA history I draw on above—as proof that school lunches are merely aid to the poor. But they somehow missed how that report points to national defense, stabilizing agricultural markets, and helping all students succeed.
And that’s what right-wing efforts like Project 2025 get wrong. They believe school lunch programs are just aid to the poor. (They also believe helping the poor is bad.)
And with any large program, there are always things to figure out and improve—including the breakdown between state and the USDA funding, equipping school kitchens properly, and the general health and appetizing-ness of the meals themselves.
Wise stewardship of our public resources matters. So does perspective. How much would it cost to make school meals free to all North Carolina children? About $115 million, or less than 1% of our state’s education budget.
And as we turn around our farm sector, we can also get more of that food from right here in NC: shortening supply chains, building rural opportunity, and strengthening our state’s economy for all of us.
1/ Ireland has a long history of smallish cattle. Here's a guy posing with a bull, with some forced perspective to make this compact king look like full-sized.
Why small cows? They weigh less.
That's a big plus in Ireland. When it's rainy, big heavy cows can easily tear up sod with their weight. Next thing you know the pasture is a music festival-style mudpit. The grass can take years to grow back right.
You can avoid all of that just by having smaller cows!
I'm working to build a better food system here in the southern US. Both regions share rich land that can grow plenty of good food- and a history of deep rural poverty, thanks to what could generously be described as "poor leadership."