Well lawmakers just took a big step toward giving free school lunch to every student in New Jersey regardless of their family's income.

The proposal unanimously passed an assembly committee this week.

Advocates have long argued the universal free school lunch removes the stigma that keeps some hungry students from participating in current programs.

Recent statewide data finds one in 12 households in New Jersey struggles with food insecurity.

For more, I'm joined by one of the bill's main supporters, Hunger Free N.J. Director Lisa Pitz.

As part of our ongoing series Hunger in New Jersey, Lisa, I'm glad that we can get a chance to talk about this because it seems for the first time that lawmakers are really on the verge of making this happen.

Let me start with just some context in terms of need among our students in the state.

Yes, we have over 300,000 students who are currently eligible for free meals at school.

What this bill would do would be to expand access to free school meals incrementally and then ultimately result in school meals for all of our students in New Jersey at no cost.

We've seen and we've talked about just the steady rise in food insecurity particularly throughout the pandemic, and then even more so in these months since.

What would a program like this mean for reaching all of those kids throughout the state?

Well, Briana, we know from the pandemic when meals were free to all children that participation in school meals went up.

The need was there.

Families took advantage of the program.

Kids had access to healthy breakfast and lunch every day.

Since that has ended, we have gone back to the categories of free, reduced and paid what it means to families.

Is it it's a huge savings to struggling working families in order to be eligible for free school meals.

You have to be at about 185% of the federal poverty level.

Luckily, in New Jersey, we eliminated the reduced price category a couple of years ago.

But that 185% of the federal poverty level is extraordinarily low.

I mean, the levels are set so low they're inadequate.

They have not kept up with inflation.

You're talking about families that are making over that income and now are working families who maybe for a family of four, are making a little over $55,000 a year.

So these are the families that are not often eligible for any programs, but they're struggling to make ends meet and being able to know that they can send your children to school and the kids can get a healthy breakfast in lunch every day at no cost to them is an enormous help to these families.

When meals are made available for free for all students, increase does pick up among the students who were previously in the paid category.

Again, that does not mean that those children are from high income households, but by and large, the increase in participation is generally among the kids that are getting the reduced price meals and the kids that are just sort of over that income limit where the households are struggling.

And, you know, just just to paint a picture, I mean, looking at a state like New Jersey and this is why school meals for all is so critically important in New Jersey, because we have such a high cost of living and wages have not kept up with inflation.

And when you look at some of the job growth, some of the sectors where there's been the largest job growth, there really a lot of service industry jobs that typically pay lower wages You know, you're talking about families who are earning, you know, 15, 40, 50, $60,000 a year and having to provide for two and three children.

So being able to get those free meals in school for those kids, for those struggling working families is critically important.

And school meals for all is really the most effective efficient and equitable way to ensure that all of our kids have access to healthy meals so that they can learn and grow to their full potential hunger-free.

New Jersey director Lisa Pitz thank you so much.

Thank you, Briana.

Funding for hunger in New Jersey has been provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, working with others to build a national culture of health that provides everyone in America a fair and just opportunity for health and well-being.