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Bill Would Allow Oklahoma School Districts To Give Excess Food To Students In Need

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Oklahoma lawmakers are considering a bill that would make sure that excess food at schools doesn’t go to waste. Currently, Oklahoma law s...
School Lunch
School Lunch Waste

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Oklahoma lawmakers are considering a bill that would make sure that excess food at schools doesn’t go to waste.

Currently, Oklahoma law states that any excess food that schools make must be thrown away. In fact, many cafeterias are monitored to make sure anything that is prepared is not re-used.

However, organizers say a Senate bill that is currently being considered by lawmakers would change that.

Senate Bill 297 would allow school districts to provide leftover food at no cost to students who are in need. Organizers say it would help the thousands of Oklahoma children who go hungry from not having enough food to eat at home.

“Every kid that walked through our doors needed some sort of support. Ate breakfast at the school, ate lunch at the school and then went home. So many nights I was like, I know that there’s nothing there in the cupboard,” Rep. Melissa Provenzano, a former principal, told KJRH.

Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association Vice President Shawna Mott-Wright says she always keeps extra snacks on hand, adding that she even witnessed a child pass out from hunger.

“Most teachers you talk to always have food and extras for kids. So that’s what we do. We use our own money and we keep it on hand because we know that they don’t know what they’re going to have, or when they’re going to have it,” she said.

The bill has already passed the Oklahoma Senate.

It now is being considered by the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

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