It's the Weeds. I'm John Golan Hill. Have you ever noticed that we talk about debt a lot?

Like, a lot, a lot.

Think about it. From the debt ceiling to your vidmo payments, and please do not get me started on student loans,

we owe a lot of money. And when we talk about debt, typically we're talking about adults,

which makes sense. But in some places, kids as young as elementary school are going into debt, lunch debt.

The 2023 school nutrition trend survey says that the total lunch debt is over $19 million,

which is likely an undercount, because that's just from the schools that have self-reported.

It's a problem that we've solved for a little bit.

During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, kids in public school got free lunch.

But that program lasts. And for a lot of students, when school starts back up again, their debt will start back up again too.

A lot of you experienced this firsthand.

A couple weeks ago, I went to social media and asked if anyone would be willing to share their school lunch debt story.

And so many of you came forward.

Like Antonia.

I absolutely loved school. I was a huge reader.

School was a very much, in general, a happy place.

But all of those memories aren't fond. Specifically, her memories around lunch.

She's an educator now, but she remembers what it was like being in lunch debt back when she was in elementary school.

I do have memories of like the lunch card. There was like this card, and everyone had a lunch card with their ID number and you.

You go through and the lunch lady, of course, is at the end scanning all the cards that you go through and you pick each item up along the way.

And then you get to the end. And at the end is when you find out, I guess, depending on how much money you have if you're going to be able to walk away with the tray.

And I do remember a few incidences where like the tray was taken away.

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