As universal free lunch takes hold in schools, Oregon will shift how it measures student poverty levels

This article was originally published by The Oregonian/OregonLive and is reprinted with permission.

The growing movement to provide free school lunches for all students — a concept that gained momentum during the pandemic — has left Oregon policymakers with a conundrum.

On the one hand, the idea has staying power, and support from powerful allies who say it can make a meaningful dent in food insecurity rates. In 2018-2019, about 25% of Oregon schools gave…