That's the point that always gets me...

There are kids out there who would not eat if not for this. I'll pay the taxes gladly for them to have a hot meal so they can focus

You can't act like we live in a meritocracy if some of the people are literally unable to compete because they're starving.

I think you misunderstand....I'm speaking to people who believe in the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" mentality. (I left that phrase out because it's so wildly misunderstood and didn't want to get into a debate about the phrase.) They believe in a meritocracy.

Those people also tend to oppose government spending more often than not.

My point is for those people....you can't say that everyone is responsible for their own success if they're being kneecapped in elementary school because they're starving.

Being poor doesn't cause obesity. That's not how logic works.

Being poor is correlated with obesity. Some poor kids get shitty high calorie food, others don't get enough.

Food insecurity is a quantitatively measured subject.

IDK why you're so antagonistic to the idea of making sure that kids have good food, but I don't think this is productive.

You can have the last word, I'm out.

Again, groups are not monoliths.

You're using correlation (not causation) to argue against something.

The link I sent you cites studies about school lunches reducing food insecurity.

You should read them before saying they're irrelevant, they're very relevant.

https://frac.org/programs/national-school-lunch-program/benefits-school-lunch#:~:text=Based on national data, economists,on estimates using national data.

Which is absolutely a thing.

You're essentially repeating what the other person said without adding anything new to the conversation.

No group is a monolith, just because poverty corellates with obesity doesn't mean that every child of poverty has enough food.

The data shows that it's a problem.

True, but I'm talking basics.

Food, clothing, shelter are all critical to being able to focus on school and get the foundation you need.

I'm not trying to create perfect equality, just arguing that a minimum reasonable standard is making sure kids have eaten.

I look at it this way...

It's not a majority of kids, it's not even a huge percentage of kids, but for those kids for whom food scarcity is a thing in their home....a hot meal would mean the world to them.