Our Policy Work

Patrick Hughes led the first Walk for Hunger from the Paulist Center in downtown Boston. An estimated 2,000 people walked 29.6 miles, raising $26,000 to help fund two hunger projects. The first pledge walk in the country, the Walk had two purposes: raise funds to help people experiencing hunger and stand together for social justice and social change that would eventually eliminate hunger. This is still true today and continues to be an annual force for change. 

Conducted the first evidence-based study of hunger among low-income families in the state in 1991 with the MA Department of Public Health and the MA Anti-Hunger Coalition, called the Childhood Community Hunger Identification Project (CCHIP). The findings of this study led to the creation of the Child Nutrition Outreach Program —a parternship between Project Bread and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to support school meal programs and help children access healthy meals during the school year and summers.

Project Bread sponsored a study, conducted by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, that proved that children who ate breakfast at school were more likely to do well in math, have fewer absences, and require fewer trips to the school nurse. This work led to the bipartisan adoption Universal Breakfast in low-income schools throughout the state, which provides breakfast free of charge to all students regardless of household income.

Piloted a collaboration between state agencies, called the Child Nutrition Access Project, that automatically enrolled children receiving SNAP into the free and reduced-price school meals program, reducing the need for multiple applications. This program is now statewide and enrolls hundreds of thousands of children for free school meals each year.

Teamed up with the MA Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) to launch the state-wide Healthy Incentives Program, which helps low-income housholds use their SNAP benefits to shop at farmer's markets and local vendors to purchase more fresh fruits and vegetables. 

Project Bread played a critical role in ensuring that the Rise and Shine Coalition’s Breakfast After the Bell legislation — An Act Regarding Breakfast After the Bell — was successfully passed. Beginning in school year 2022-2023, all students who attend a school in which 60% or more of their students are eligible for free or reduced price school meals will be required to offer breakfast after the bell to all students.

Project Bread was instrumental in the passage of An Act Promoting Student Nutrition, a bill that addresses both the root causes of unpaid meal debt as well as the impact unpaid meal debt has on students — prohibiting schools from certain meal debt collection practices that involves or penalizes the student. Alongside our partners at the MA Law Reform Institute, Project Bread was a champion of this bill, helping draft legislative language, providing data and research, and mobilizing advocates leading to this bill becoming law. 

Thanks to continued advocacy efforts by the Feed Kids Coalition and Project Bread, Governor Baker signed a 1 year extension of School Meals for All through the 2022-2023 school year! This means that there is no cost to families for any student to receive school breakfast or lunch for the school year. Massachusetts is 1 of only 6 states in the nation to take this step forward. This momentous accomplishment could not have been possible without the tireless advocacy and organizing from Project Bread, our partners and bill sponsors Senator Sal DiDomenico and Representative Andy Vargas.

The Feed Kids Coalition, led by Project Bread, and bill sponsors Senator Sal DiDomenico and Representative Andy Vargas filed legislation, An Act Relative to Universal School Meals in 2021 to make School Meals for All, or universal school meals, a reality in Massachusetts. Over 4,200 individuals contacted their legislators over 18,000 times resulting over two-thirds of the Massachusetts Legislature signing onto this policy. Noticing the impact on schools and families across the Commonwealth and this groundswell of support, the Massachusetts House of Representative included permanent School Meals for All in its budget. On August 9, 2023, Governor Healey signed the budget into law making Massachusetts the 8th state to make School Meals for All permanent!