Education Code § 49490

The Legislature finds and declares that hunger and malnutrition among children from low-income families constitute one of the most critical child health problems in the state; that federal programs to meet child nutrition needs are providing nourishing meals to thousands of the state’s poverty area children who previously could not participate in school lunch programs; that federal funds allocated for child nutrition to California are inadequate to meet critical needs; that the state and local communities bear a responsibility towards meeting these needs; and that the physical well-being of all of the children of the state is a matter of public concern and expenditures to secure such well-being serves a public purpose.