I am most definitely not a morning person, yet breakfast is my favorite meal. Go figure. Leftover rice, eggs, and green onions is my very favorite. For some people, it’s a banana on the go, while others may indulge in something that takes a little time, like hot oatmeal with fixings. Some children (and children at heart) are most happy with a big bowl of cereal and milk. The sweet and savory possibilities go on and on.

Right now, anti-hunger advocates are all rooting for a piece of state legislation called Breakfast After the Bell. If passed, the bill would provide funding to high-needs schools so they could serve breakfast as part of the regular school day, a proven way to ensure that every child has a real chance to eat breakfast.However, this bill is currently hanging by a political thread. It was passed in the house, but not in the senate. There is some chance that it could still survive in the special session that has just begun, but the process of compromise may create a finished product that looks very different than what we started with.

For better or worse, food and politics are deeply intertwined. We’ll never all agree on the best breakfast, or what should be in the budget. Yet, we are not so dissimilar. We all spend some part of our day (some more than others) pining over a favorite meal, a special food, a certain treat. We all want politics to shape a better future. We all have more power than we know to shape our government. I hope we can all move through this increasingly political season making gut decisions in the most literal sense, because deep down, we all know that everyone deserves to start the day off with a good breakfast.