I received free lunch along with most students in the district I grew up in . Lower middle class neighborhood consisting mostly of blue collar workers. The schools would ask for our parents income every year and that’s how we would receive free lunch. As far as food stamps goes, I knew of no one receiving them. You have to go out of your way for them and fill out paperwork and personally drop off, then wait to see if you qualify. Surprisingly, people in my neighborhood looked down on people receiving them and considered it an embarrassment. Looking back I don’t feel that was right for us to judge, because we spend far more on our military, subsidizing corporations , bailing out Wall Street , etc.