Milton Friedman was wrong: I got a free (USDA-approved) lunch

While school is out, anyone under the age of 18 can get a free lunch, courtesy of the USDA’s Summer Food Service Program, now in its 40th year. Starting this summer, children and adults can call the toll-free National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3-HUNGRY or use an online tool to find free meal sites. After callers provide their zip code, the hotline directs them to the nearest USDA meal site.

I called the hotline and found that the nearest food site to me in Washington, D.C., is the Martin Luther King Jr. Library. It serves lunch from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The hotline operator told me that the meals must conform to Michelle Obama’s federal nutrition standards.