Free US school lunches were a dream come true. Now, a hunger crisis looms for 10 million children

As rising prices hit families and school food programs, the program’s expiration will cause a cliff that could cause a catastrophe. Photograph: Pixel-shot/Alamy

For the last two years, the notion that no kid should ever have to go hungry in the US has gotten closer to a reality, thanks to federal waivers that have expanded children’s access to food. The waivers resulted in a simple but revolutionary outcome: free lunch, year-round, for every American schoolchild.

But that will come to an end in weeks, as Congress has failed to include an extension of the waivers, which have allowed schools to offer school lunches as well as summer lunch handouts, enabling an estimated 10 million more students to get a free meal.