If you cook it, they will come.

Delaware Elementary School in Syracuse is among a growing number of primary schools nationwide that recently implemented a free dinner program as a means of combatting poverty’s negative effects on students’ development, academic performance and overall success.

Set to expand to McKinley-Brighton Elementary School in the fall, the program has received backlash as coddling at the expense of taxpayers from local conservatives. But the free dinner initiative should not be viewed as another handholding tactic by progressives.

Rather, it should be seen as a necessary expense in ensuring Syracuse students have the tools they need for success. Considering that Syracuse City School District already provides breakfast, lunch and after-school snacks during the school year and meals in the Summer Nutrition Program, Delaware Elementary’s free dinner initiative is one of the final steps in tackling the obstacles to academic achievement that have resulted from poverty in Syracuse.

It’s true that a program like Delaware’s challenges the role of educators in students’ lives. Some may argue that the responsibilities of school faculty and staff starts at 8 a.m. ends at 3 p.m. But for real success, educators should be genuinely invested in students’ well-being, even after the final school bell rings.

Prior to her departure from the school board last weekend, former Syracuse City School District Superintendent Sharon Contreras noted the obvious when it comes to nutrition and education. If students are eating nutritious meals, their brains will develop better and they will come to school more prepared to learn.

Lynn Brann, an assistant professor of public health, food studies and nutrition in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, said Contreras is not far off base. Brann says there is a strong connection between food nutrition and success in the classroom.

“[The students] are getting the vitamins and minerals that help their body function and their minds work correctly,” said Brann. “All of those things are important and one of the reasons that these school meals are key is that these kids don’t get good access to nutrients.”

The results of such investment have the potential to help communities flourish, beyond the walls of a school. In the short term, the program will draw a connection between wholesome eating and better education in the Syracuse community, as offering dinner will improve students’ overall health and ability to focus. In the long term, the benefits from a program like Delaware’s will be far-reaching for residents of the city by leading to increased engagement with a school environment and less exposure to crime.

To continue receiving funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the program must be accompanied with educational opportunities. The extra homework help, career services and skill-based activities that will be paired with free dinner programs as a result of the USDA requirement would engage and enrich kids in ways that don’t fit the typical school day curriculum.

And by adding an activity at the end of the day, the program will keep students in a safer environment for a little longer and out of trouble. According to a 2014 study by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, violent crimes by juveniles most often occur around 3 p.m. —  the time that marks the end of the average school day.

Not only does crime spike for minors when the school day is over, but exposure to criminal activity has lasting impacts on a kid’s education: 56 percent of federal inmates, 67 percent of inmates in state prisons and 69 percent of inmates in local jails did not complete high school, according to U.S. Bureau of Justice data. Given that crime is more present in individuals with limited access to education, it’s clear that a comprehensive free dinner program like this will help break the cycle for future Syracuse residents.

But not everyone is buying into the idea that an apple-a-day will keep the effects of poverty away.  Most directly, this can be seen in the almost 500 comments, as of Thursday, on the Syracuse.com article reporting on the supper program. Critics say the program would not only not work, but would encourage laziness and dependency. What’s more is that those opposed to the program seem to believe that their tax dollars are going to be supporting the children of other, less hardworking community members.

Still, Syracuse’s poverty is entangled with other factors of city life and the education system is no exception. In the U.S., nearly half of all property tax revenue is allocated toward funding for public schools, but cities like Syracuse that are dense in low-income communities tend to raise less money per student through property tax. Students in New York’s poorest districts receive up to 11.8 percent less funding than their more affluent peers, according to 2015 data from the National Center for Education Statistics. And Syracuse kids are definitely among this population: as of late 2015, about half of children in Syracuse were living in poverty.

Across the board, under-resourced schools tend to report negative impressions on students. Most significantly, higher dropout rates afflict these students and perpetuate the overall low-income status of a community, according to statistics provided by the American Psychological Association So be it malnutrition, crime or other any other challenge facing children in the community, it’s up to schools to actively study these societal factors and take on the responsibility of responding to them accordingly.

Education is supposed to be the great equalizer and regardless of whether an individual has the means to put dinner on the table themselves, initiatives that seek to alleviate poverty benefit the greater community. So while the free dinner program can’t be a blanket solution to Syracuse’s poverty, its implementation will help break down some of the major barriers that hinder student success —  just like the meal programs that came before it.

Chandler Dunn is a senior magazine journalism major, and history and political science dual minor. Her column appears biweekly. She can be reached at ccdunn@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @ccrdunn.

Published on July 3, 2016 at 5:33 pm