IF MEN COULD GET PREGNANT, how different would the world be?

     Not just different if it suddenly was real now — different if it had ALWAYS been.

     This is in invitation to speculate. Pick either option. Or both. Or things in-between, maybe.

     Consider, for example, the seahorse — only the male gets pregnant. WarOnWomen news section follows this Seahorse Reproduction summary…

     A seahorse pair may court for some days before copulation, apparently to learn/ synchronize each other’s motions and reproductive states. Courtship starts with a male approaching a female and brightening his color. Sometimes males compete, even fight for a given female, sometimes not. Once the pair has paired up, they both may do color displays, swim side by side holding tails, grip the same strand of sea grass with their tails as a hold-fast, point upward with their heads at various times, wheel around one another, and other motions as if dancing, alternately and together.

     For initial copulation, the male pumps seawater into his brood pouch, the pair let go of holdfasts, spiralling upward in a water column, snout-to-snout, the male’s pouch opening for just a few seconds, whereupon the female inserts her ovipositor, to deposit dozens to thousands of ova, her body slimming as his enlarges, and he releases sperm into the pouch. Both animals then sink back into the sea grass, she swims away for the night, and after dawn returns for courtship and copulation another 5 to 8 times (variations depending on species).

     Because the spermatozoa and ova meet in the hyperosmotic seawater environment of the male’s pouch, scientists regard fertilization as being physiologically ‘external’ within a physically ‘internal’ environment. This may be a rilly creative way to claim that the male is not actually pregnant despite that the fertilized ova then embed in the pouch wall, and spongy tissue develops around them, highly comparable to the mammalian placenta, supplying energy-rich nutrients in additon to the eggs’ yolks, and calcium, etc., to the baby seahorses’ skeletal system, and providing oxygen, immunological protection, osmoregulation, gas exchange and waste transport, for the eggs to hatch into baby seahorses within the protected salinity of their controlled environment incubation.

     In roughly 30 days, the babies are ready to be born, typically at night. The male then “expels” them with muscular contractions; he gives birth. Miniscule as they are, the babies are then on their own, and by morning the male is ready for the next batch of eggs when his mate returns or a new pairing occurs.

     Less than 0.5% of the babies survive, making reproduction appear to come at  great cost to the father. (This is rarely said of mothers of any species, but nevermind.) Which brings into question why the “sexual” role reversal even exists, if the male partner appears to incur more energy costs than the female???

     Or does he? Using oxygen consumption to measure overall metabolic/physiological cost, researchers found that although the male does consume almost 33% more oxygen than before mating, the female’s energy expenditure for generating eggs is still twice that of males during incubation. So, in fact, the energy costs of producing offspring are only LESS UNEQUAL, than in standard sexual reproduction. Making eggs is still a huge cost to the female — they amount to about a third of her body weight.

     And yet, sez wik, researchers still wonder “why” the males carry the offspring. Some believe it allows for shorter birthing intervals, hence more offspring, hence better odds of survival of the species.

     They’re just barely approaching answer, due to having asked the wrong question; it should be not “why” but the much more scientific “how come?”

      Then they’d “get” that LESS UNEQUAL energy expenditure may be THE species survival advantage. After all, seahorses are essentially defenseless, and they can’t even swim fast to escape danger. But they have to reproduce sexually. Therefore, the only way they could have come to evolve to survive to today was from the female not being forced to bear the typical, highly unequal energy expenditure that would have made the fraction of a percent of surviving females supervulnerable to premature death that would loooong ago have resulted in a gender ratio incapable of species survival. Instead, as this article puts it:

having the male (gestate and) give birth allows the female to create more eggs (meanwhile). Sharing the (cost expenditure) ensures survival of the species.

     There may be a lesson here for human cultures: make the costs of survival more equal across all genders, or gradually your culture loses every chance at progress, devolves into self-destruction, and just possibly disappears.

IN THE NEWS:

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ParkerFor10

Nancy Parker — Daily Kos’ strawbale — is running for Idaho House seat, District 10,

Campaigning takes cash, as we all know. Printing and signs and events, at a minimum.  I need to put $1500 into the coordinated campaign at the state level for all the shared services.  If you can help out, the Act Blue link is: secure.actblue.com/…

…(no paypal) but paper checks to Parker For 10 can be sent to PO Box 704 Middleton ID 83644.

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Guttmacher Joins US and Latin American Abortion Activists to Mobilize Against Reproductive Oppression <big>The 2nd Annual Green Wave Gathering brought together 150 activists from across the Americas to share strategies and solidarity in the face of rising far-right movements globally</big>

Mexico City, MX – The Green Wave—the abortion rights movement originated in Latin America and led by activists who overturned extreme abortion bans across the region—continues spreading throughout the Americas, inspiring a new wave of activism and solidarity.

For the second year, US abortion activists met with Green Wave leaders from countries like Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Chile to share strategies and insights on advancing abortion reform. The gathering, which took place in Mexico City, aimed to strengthen the movement by learning from each other’s successes and challenges in navigating complex environments where abortion access remains marginalized, criminalized and surveilled….

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Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan Aren’t Hiding the Bad Blood Between Them:

elenacarlena says “This is regarding the recent racial gerrymandering case from South Carolina, Alexander v. NAACP (bolding mine)”

This case should have been really easy because the Supreme Court decided a similar one in 2017 called Cooper v. Harris, which involved a North Carolina congressional district. The court—which looked very different in 2017—struck down the district. And in her majority opinion, Justice Elena Kagan rejected all the garbage that Alito shoveled into the law on Thursday. She wrote that plaintiffs don’t have to present a specific kind of evidence, and appeals courts should defer to district courts’ findings, not go over them with a super-skeptical eye. Here, rather than acknowledging that he’s overturning Cooper v. Harris, Justice Alito accuses Justice Kagan of misreading her own opinion from just seven years ago. He says she was talking about “an imaginary version” of Cooper v. Harris—which, I cannot stress enough, is a decision that she herself wrote. It is a noxious mix of mansplaining and gaslighting for Alito to overrule this precedent without admitting it, then tell the author of the precedent that she misunderstood the meaning of the opinion that she wrote.  

And Kagan’s dissent is kind of personal. You can tell when she writes those crisp, declarative sentences that she will not be told that this somehow follows on from her logic in Cooper v. Harris. And she conspicuously uses the term “upside-down” twice, which reads like a pretty clear dig at Alito’s flag controversy. There’s quite a visceral sense that these two are disagreeing.

“I love when the women on the Supreme Court push back!”

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PewResearch Support for legal abortion is widespread in many places, especially in Europe

Majorities in most of the 27 places around the world that Pew Research Center surveyed in 2023 and 2024 say abortion should be legal in all or most cases….

In the United States, where a Supreme Court decision ended the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, 63% of adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. U.S. support for legal abortion has not changed in recent years.

In Europe, there is widespread agreement that abortion should be legal. In nearly every European country surveyed, at least 75% of adults hold this view, including roughly 25% or more who say it should be legal in all cases.

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<big>MAY was Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month…</big>

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NBCNews Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii doesn’t care if you think she’s ‘out of control’

Among the pivotal moments in Sen. Mazie Hirono’s life — one that forced her into heavy introspection — was when her ex-boyfriend and fellow rising star in the Hawaii political sphere proposed to her.

Allison Lynde and she had been together for nearly two decades (she was 38 at the time), yet Hirono, D-Hawaii, said she would need time to mull over her decision. There was an expectation to “make it my primary responsibility to steady him, encourage him, soothe his moods, and smooth his way,” she wrote in her (2021) memoir “Heart of Fire.” She often took on the role of cheerleader for Lynde, who she recalls had once asked her, “Why haven’t you pushed me to greater heights?” while her own wins were interpreted as threatening…

…Hirono rejected Lynde’s offer, making it one of many instances in which she’s put her foot down in the face of the double standards women so often face. (She later married Leighton Oshima.)

…first Asian American woman and first immigrant woman to serve in the Senate, (Hirono) has become known for… candid moments. From telling men to “just shut up and step up” and “do the right thing for a change” at a press conference following the sexual assault allegation against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, to walking out of a hearing that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, held on antifa (in 2020), Hirono said she hasn’t shied away from expressing her emotions. And women in general, shouldn’t have to hold back, she says.

Though many women of Asian descent, in particular, face cultural constraints that often keep them from speaking out, along with the competing Western expectation that they remain “subservient” or “meek,” Hirono, 73, argues that her expression has allowed her to “become more of a complete person….”

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Hawai’i State News Big Island advocates for missing, murdered Indigenous women and girls in Hilo

…The (May 5) event, held on the lawn facing Kanoelehua Avenue outside the Hilo Ross store, was intended to “address the systemic issues that contribute to the disproportionately high rates of violence against Indigenous women and girls,” said Kimi Palacio of Going Home Hawai‘i.

“Today, as we stood in solidarity for Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls Awareness Day, Going Home Hawai’i reaffirmed our commitment to advocating for all individuals, including those affected by or at-risk of becoming victims of human and sex trafficking,” said Palacio.

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<big>MsMagazine Honoring Asian American and Pacific Islander Feminist Trailblazers: Patsy Mink, Merata Mita and Grace Lee Boggs</big>

Women throughout history have been inventing, leading, organizing, creating and making the world a better place despite gender injustice. If women knew about these inspiring stories that have been kept from them, would they be bolder and have more willingness to persevere?

…discover untold stories of incredible women—made possible by nonprofit Look What SHE Did! Since incorporating as a in 2015, Look What SHE Did! has produced 150+ three- to four-minute films of women telling the stories of the trailblazing women who inspire them.

This week: Patsy Mink, the first woman of color elected to Congress; Merata Mita, filmmaker, teacher and activist; and Grace Lee Boggs, civil rights activist.

(And don’t miss previous installments on Latina trailblazers, women who dissent and Black women leaders!)

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Women in Film and Video Samantha Cheng, journalist and documentarian,  honored as a WIFV 2024 Women of Vision Awardee.

Following an extensive voting process, WIFV recognized Cheng for her efforts in sharing untold stories of Asian Americans … Cheng is being honored alongside PBS Chief Programming Executive and General Manager of General Audience Programming Sylvia Bugg and director and actor Marielle Heller.

“She has been critical in documenting the Asian Pacific American experience in the United States and bringing under-told stories to a broader audience,” Melissa Houghton Executive Director at WIFV said….

Cheng did not start (her working life as a documentarian); she attended Baruch College in New York City for business (where) she was encouraged to take creative writing and journalism classes. (They led her to explore further, and a job at) the longest-running cable news video magazine in Manhattan cable history “What’s On, Live” (later interning) abroad at (the BBC).

After college, Cheng entered the commercial industry (which requires) concise messages in 30 seconds, but she wanted to tell longer stories. So, she pivoted to (news with its typical) four-minute-long features. (That still wasn’t) enough for Cheng, and she (transitioned into) long-form journalism.

Now, Cheng focuses most of her energy on documentaries (of her own production company) that highlight the impact of Asian Americans and Asian American women on American history. (But she didn’t always know there were stories to tell. For example, as a) product of New York City public schools, Cheng (had not been taught of) the Japanese incarceration camps until post college….Learning about this … inspired Cheng to (discover and share more of the Asian American experience, especially women) …

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Guardian More than half of US Black women aged 15-49 live under abortion bans – report

NBCNews Sean Combs’ apology falls short for many Black women, who face higher rates of domestic violence

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ apology for the 2016 beating of his ex-girlfriend (singer Cassie Ventura) is falling short among domestic violence groups — and on the internet. Combs, 54, uploaded the apology to Instagram on Sunday after a video was released that appeared to show him beating her.

In his apology, Combs called his behavior “inexcusable” and said he was going through a difficult time in his life when the attack happened. He said he had sought therapy and entered rehab shortly afterward and was working to “be a better man.”

The violent video matched (what) Ventura detailed in a lawsuit settled in November. Combs had denied Ventura’s allegations. His attorneys said at the time that the settlement was “in no way an admission of wrongdoing.”

(Online comments included a post on X saying) “There’s absolutely nothing genuine about that apology …” and “What yall witnessed was manipulation. The first thing he did was center himself.”

Aubrey O’Day, a former member of the Combs-created girl group Danity Kane, shared a photo of Combs’ previous denial in her own critical post on X. “Diddy did not apologize to Cassie. He apologized to the world for seeing what he did.”…

…“This is the classic cycle of domestic violence,” Joanna Otero-Cruz, president of the Philadelphia-based Women Against Abuse domestic violence center, (and that) apologies are common in gender violence situations and are often used to manipulate victims and the public.“… they want to create sympathy from others, apathy from others, all of those things … typical behavior of someone who perpetuates abuse. We’re just seeing it in public now.”…

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KFF.ORG Five Facts About Black Women’s Experiences in Health Care

Black women account for one in seven women in the U.S. today and play an integral part of our workforce and communities. Despite making significant advances and contributions to U.S. society, Black women continue to face high levels of unfair treatment and systemic discrimination, making up disproportionate shares of people living in poverty and working in low-wage jobs. Reflecting the intersectional nature of their identity, Black women experience the combined impact of discrimination based on their gender in addition to their race…

…In addition to … everyday forms of discrimination, Black women also report experiencing disproportionate levels of unfair treatment in health care settings. For example, about one in five (21%) Black women say they have been treated unfairly by a health care provider or their staff because of their racial or ethnic background and a similar share (22%) of Black women who have been pregnant or gave birth in the past ten years say they were refused pain medication they thought they needed. These experiences may contribute to ongoing disparities in health for Black women, including stark divides in maternal health.

Below are five key facts about Black women’s experiences in health care drawing on (KFF’s 2023 Racism, Discrimination, and Health Survey)…

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Sally Abed, Palestinian Israeli feminist progressive activist

In a Dissent forum on the state of the Israeli left, Sally Abed, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, rejects the one-sided agenda of a left that only focuses on a “free Palestine.” “I always say that Palestinian liberation necessitates Jewish safety, and vice versa,” says Abed. “And I say it to both sides. You’re pro-Israel? You need to liberate Palestinians. You’re pro-Palestinian? You need to talk about Jewish safety. It’s much bigger than the hostages. It’s a much bigger shift in conception. It’s a very simple equation, and I repeat it like crazy.”

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Ha’aretz – May 23

Opinion | My Father Is a Hostage in Gaza. Palestinians Are Not My Enemy – Blind Hate Is

As we bleed and grieve, and in the case of families like my own – hang suspended between hope and despair for the fate of our loved ones, I sometimes want to shout that the self-congratulatory hatred of Israel by the far left is futile. What we need urgently instead is their support for Israelis and Palestinians working for justice and peace….

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PBSNewshour Why abortion bans in Florida and Arizona disproportionately affect the Latina population

Millions of Latino Floridians and Arizonans started off the month of May with new and looming restrictions on their reproductive health decisions.

Florida, home to the third-largest Latino population in the country…became the latest state to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before (a woman usually knows she’s pregnant). In Arizona … home to the sixth-largest Latino population in the country, a Civil War-era total abortion ban will go into effect for at least several months until a repeal approved by state lawmakers takes effect (underscoring) the outsize impact of abortion bans on Latinas, the largest group of women of color impacted by current and likely bans on the procedure, according to multiple analyses. In both states, the sizable Latino population could play a decisive role in the passage of proposed amendments to enshrine the right to abortion in their state constitutions.

“In many of these places, including Florida and Arizona, inequities for Latinas in terms of health care access were already really great,” said Lupe Rodríguez, the executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice. “Latinos have some of the highest rates of not being insured, and therefore, of not getting preventative health care of many kinds,…

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HumanRightsCampaign Reyna Hernandez, Latina trans woman, salon owner, and “vibrant spirit,” killed in Washington State

Reyna Hernandez, a 54-year-old Latina transgender woman, was shot and killed in Renton, Washington on February 26, 2024. She is at least the 13th transgender or gender-expansive person violently killed since the start of 2024. We say “at least” because too often these deaths go unreported — or misreported.

…Reyna was initially reported missing on February 28th, after having last been seen on the 26th when she left her home in Renton to run errands. Tragically, on March 2, 2024, Reyna was found dead from a gunshot in a Mexicali, Mexico cemetery, her body tied to a tree; evidence suggesting she had been tortured prior to her death. … Authorities have charged her former romantic partner, Louie “Alex” Hernandez, who was recently arrested in Mexico on unrelated charges, with first-degree murder in Washington State, and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice are working to have him extradited to the United States. Evidence suggests Louie shot and killed her in his home, before driving her body to Mexico, where it was ultimately recovered….

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ReligionNewsService Catholic nuns’ letter declares trans people ‘beloved and cherished by God’

The letter followed a recent statement from U.S. Catholic bishops discouraging Catholic health care groups from performing various gender-affirming medical procedures.

A coalition led by Catholic nuns, representing thousands of women religious and associates at partner groups, released a public letter on (March 31) voicing support for transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive individuals, declaring they “are beloved and cherished by God” and implicitly rebuking recent statements from the U.S. Catholic hierarchy….

“As members of the body of Christ, we cannot be whole without the full inclusion of transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive individuals,” the letter read… (going) on to argue that “we will remain oppressors until we — as vowed Catholic religious — acknowledge the existence of LGBTQ+ people in our own congregations. …”

The letter also states transgender people are “experiencing harm and erasure” in various ways, listing daily discrimination, a groundswell of state-level legislation aimed at LGBTQ rights and “harmful rhetoric from some Christian institutions and their leaders, including the Catholic Church.”

Prepared by representatives from various communities including the U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, and Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth JPIC office, the letter lists orders of nuns and other organizations representing more than 6,000 vowed religious across 18 states….

…(Although initiated some period earlier, the letter) comes in the wake of a doctrinal statement published earlier this month by a committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which discouraged Catholic health care groups from performing various gender-affirming medical procedures, arguing doing so does not respect the “intrinsic unity of body and soul.”…

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Starting July 2024 California is about to become the unprecedented first US state taxing guns and ammunition comparably to alcohol.

(Hopefully this makes women and kids safer from gun violence and murder.)

The new tax – an 11% levy on each sale – will come on top of federal excise taxes of 10% or 11% for firearms and California’s 6% sales tax.

The National Rifle Association has characterized California’s Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Act as an affront to the Constitution. But the reaction from the gun lobby and firearms manufactures may hint at something else: the impact that the measure — which is aimed at reducing gun violence — may have on sale$$$…

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NativeNewsOnline Native Artist and Former Cultural Advisor to the Chicago Blackhawks, Nina Sanders (Apsáalooke), filed suit against the team on May 14, for Sexual Harassment and Fraud during her employment there.

…When Sanders was hired (in 2020 as an independent contractor to build better relationships with Native American communities amid backlack about its name, logo and stereotypical imagery), the team was mired in criticism following an announcement from the Washington Redskins that they would retire their name and logo.

According to the lawsuit, Daniel Wirtz, Blackhawks chairman and CEO, reached out to Sanders, offering the position of liaison between the team and the Native American community (making promises to induce Sanders to accept, such as) hiring Native Americans, educating employees on Black Hawk, a Sauk leader, facilitating landback to the Sac and Fox Nation, and changing the team’s logo.

(The lawsuit states) that none of these promises were fulfilled … that Wirtz “only intended on the Organization benefiting from their association with Ms. Sanders, as her standing and reputation in the Native American community…” (and that her direct supervisor precluded written communication, such as email, on sexual harassment of herself and other women workers there); rather, she should communicate (on that via) telephone or in person. …(One allegation involved a team agent) sending Sanders sexually explicit videos of him masturbating on Snapchat; another in which he grabbed her arm and insisted he come to her room… (women groped and sexually assaulted by Blackhawk personnel, and) no complaints investigated by the Blackhawks organization or reported to the police….

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Alaska South Africa man, convicted in deaths of 2 Alaska Native women, faces revocation of U.S. citizenship​

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Federal prosecutors want to revoke the U.S. citizenship of a South Africa man … for allegedly lying on his naturalization application (on which he answered “no” to the question of whether he had whether he had ever been involved in a killing or badly hurting or sexually assaulting someone — ) prosecutors say he had (already) committed the two murders (of which he was convicted earlier this year)

Brian Steven Smith, 52, was convicted … in the deaths of two women (involving torture and sexual assault), narrating as he recorded one woman dying. That video was stored on a phone that was stolen from his pickup. The images were transferred to a memory card and later turned over to police by the person who took the phone….

(One victim was) Kathleen Henry, 30, whose body was found weeks after Smith recorded her death in September 2019 at TownePlace Suites by Marriott, a hotel in midtown Anchorage where he worked. Smith, who came to Alaska in 2014, became a naturalized citizen the same month Henry was killed.

The other victim was Veronica Abouchuk…in either 2018 or 2019. Smith told police that he picked her up while his wife was out of town. When she refused to shower, he shot her in the head and dumped her body north of Anchorage.

He told police where the body was left, and authorities later found a skull with a bullet wound there.

Smith was convicted Feb. 22 after the Anchorage jury deliberated less than two hours….

…If convicted of illegally obtaining naturalization, his U.S. citizenship would be revoked.

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Medscape Former UCLA Doctor Lauren Pinter-Brown, MD, a hematologic oncologist, awarded $14 million in gender discrimination retrial

A California jury has awarded $14 million to a former University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) oncologist (who claimed she was paid thousands less than her male colleagues and wrongfully terminated after her complaints of gender-based harassment and intimidation were ignored by program leadership.

The decision comes after a lengthy 8-year legal battle in which an appellate judge reversed a previous jury decision in her favor….

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HCN.org When school meals are free to all students.

(School food programs face many challenges, such as): children skipping the meal line because they fear being judged (on low family income), parents fuming about surprise bills they can’t afford, unpaid meal debts of (tens of thousands) districtwide.

(But these concerns vanish when all students get free breakfast and lunch, regardless. At one Montana elementary where children can) grab milk cartons, cereal bars and bananas from tables on their way to class,… almost 80% (now eat) breakfast each school day….

Child nutrition advocates (long pushed for this but real progress only came with a big but quiet win) in 2010, when Congress passed an under-the-radar policy called the community eligibility provision, which made (free meals to all) easier for schools… Then, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the federal government let every public school student eat for free, rapidly transforming the nation’s thinking around school meals.

Eight states, including California, Colorado and New Mexico, have passed their own universal free meal legislation since federal largesse ended in 2022. Dozens more have introduced similar bills or have one in the works (and nearly 7,000 other schools have) signed up for the community eligibility program (like that Montana district). As of the 2022-’23 school year, roughly four in 10 public schools were enrolled.

… more than 21 million American children now attend schools (with) free meals to all (and the huge benefits have become evident:) supporting families, supporting kids, changing (school food) culture ….”

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