A lawmaker in West Virginia ruffled a few feathers when he suggested students participating in free meal programs at school should work for their food.
West Virginia's House of Delegates voted 89-9 to pass the West Virginia Feed to Achieve Act, to ensure that no child is denied breakfast or lunch at school because of cost.
Delegate Ray Canterbury (R-Greenbrier) spoke against the bill, claiming that there is no such thing as a free lunch. “I think it would be a good idea if perhaps we had the kids work for their lunches: trash to be taken out, hallways to be swept, lawns to be mowed, make them earn it,” said Canterbury. "If they miss a lunch or they miss a meal they might not, in that class that afternoon, learn to add, they may not learn to diagram a sentence, but they'll learn a more important lesson."
The comments were met with criticism, with delegate Meshea Poore (D-Kanawha) saying, “I’m offended anybody in this body would dare say a child has to work for their meals. I can’t believe someone would say a first-grader, a second-grader … a fifth-grader has to labor before they eat. This isn’t an entitlement bill.”
