The problem is that, when free lunches are restricted to only kids who can’t afford lunch, there’s a social pressure NOT to get the free lunch. Kids don’t want to stand out as “that poor kid.” They’ll skip lunch instead of being singled out.

that’s another factor–even at my school, which was extremely heterogeneous in terms of wealth, this dynamic was pretty obvious. you can’t really hide that you get free lunch, because everyone’s in a line with you when you pay