Backgound Information on the USDA's National School
Lunch Program

School Lunch Program - Fact Sheets

1. What is the National School Lunch Program?
The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally assisted meal
program operating in more than 96,000 public and nonprofit private schools
and residential child care institutions. It provides nutritionally
balanced, low-cost or free lunches to nearly 27 million children each
school day. The program was established under the National School Lunch
Act, signed by President Harry Truman in 1946.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, through its Food and Nutrition Service,
administers the program at the Federal level. At the State level, the NSLP
is usually administered by State education agencies, which operate the
program through agreements with local school districts.

2. How does the National School Lunch Program work?
School districts and independent schools that choose to take part in the
lunch program get cash subsidies and donated commodities from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture for each meal they serve. In return, they must
serve lunches that meet Federal requirements, and they must offer free or
reduced-price lunches to eligible children. School food authorities can
also be reimbursed for snacks served to children through age 18 in
after-school educational or enrichment programs.

3. What are the nutritional requirements for school lunch?
School meals must meet the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which
recommend that no more than 30 percent of an individual's calories come
from fat, and less than 10 percent from saturated fat. Regulations also
establish a standard for school lunches to provide one-third of the
Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron,
calcium, and calories.

Schools have the option to choose one of the four standard systems for
their menu planning: Nutrient Standard Menu Planning, Assisted Nutrient
Standard Menu Planning, the traditional meal pattern, and the enhanced meal
pattern. Schools and State agencies may also develop their own alternate
approach to menu planning under guidelines established in the regulations.
Both Nutrient Standard and Assisted Nutrient Standard Menu Planning systems
base their planning on a computerized nutritional analysis of the week's
menu. The traditional and enhanced meal pattern options base their menu
planning on minimum component quantities of meat or meat alternate;
vegetables and fruits; grains and breads; and milk. An alternate approach
would usually modify these approaches.

School lunches must meet Federal nutrition requirements, but decisions
about what specific foods to serve and how they are prepared are made by
local school food authorities. USDA has made a commitment to improve the
nutritional quality of all school meals. The Department works with State
agencies and local school food authorities through the Team Nutrition
initiative to teach and motivate children to make healthy food choices, and
to provide school food service staff with training and technical support.

4. How do children qualify for free and reduced-price meals?
Any child at a participating school may purchase a meal through the
National School Lunch Program. Children from families with incomes at or
below 130 percent of the poverty level are eligible for free meals. Those
between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty level are eligible for
reduced-price meals, for which students can be charged no more than 40
cents. (For the period July 1,
<http://fns1.usda.gov:80/cnd/Lunch/Governance/Notices/00-01ieg.htm> 2000,
through June 30, 2001, 130 percent of the poverty level is $22,165 for a
family of four; 185 percent is $31,543.)

Children from families with incomes over 185 percent of poverty pay a full
price, though their meals are still subsidized to some extent. Local school
food authorities set their own prices for full-price meals, but most
operate their meal services as non-profit programs.

Congress in 1998 expanded reimbursement for snacks served to children in
afterschool educational and enrichment programs to include children up to
18 years of age. Afterschool snacks are reimbursed on the same income
eligibility basis as school meals. Programs that operate in areas where at
least 50 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals
and serve all their snacks for free, are reimbursed at the free rate.

5. How much reimbursement do schools get?
Most of the support USDA provides to schools in the National School Lunch
Program comes in the form of a cash reimbursement for each meal served. The
current (July 1, 2000 through June 30, 2001) basic cash reimbursement rates are:
<http://fns1.usda.gov:80/cnd/Lunch/Governance/Notices/NAPs00-01chart.html>

Free meals: $2.02
Reduced-price meals: $1.62
Paid meals: 19 cents
Free snacks: 55 cents
Reduced-price snacks: 27 cents
Paid snacks: 5 cents

Higher reimbursement rates are in effect for Alaska and Hawaii, and for
some schools with high percentages of low-income children.

6. What other support do schools get from USDA?
In addition to cash reimbursements, schools are entitled by law to receive
commodity foods, called "entitlement" foods, at a value of 15 cents for
each meal served. Schools can also get "bonus" commodities as they are
available from surplus agricultural stocks.

Team Nutrition also provides schools with technical training and assistance
to help school food service staffs prepare healthy meals, and with
nutrition education to help children understand the link between diet and
health.

7. What types of foods do schools get from USDA?
States select entitlement foods for their schools from a list of various
foods purchased by USDA and offered through the school lunch program. The
list includes fresh, canned and frozen fruits and vegetables; meats; fruit
juices; vegetable shortening; peanut products; vegetable oil; and flour and
other grain products. Specific foods can be found on this web site at
<http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd>http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd

Bonus foods are offered only as they become available through agricultural
surplus. The variety of both entitlement and bonus commodities schools can
get from USDA depends on quantities available and market prices.

USDA has placed special emphasis on improving the quality of commodities
donated to the school lunch program, including a great increase in the
amount and variety of fresh produce available to schools. A very successful
project between USDA and the Department of Defense has helped provide
schools with fresh produce purchased through DoD. USDA has also worked with
schools to help promote connections with local small farmers who may be
able to provide fresh produce.

8. How many children have been served over the years?
The National School Lunch Act in 1946 created the modern school lunch
program, though USDA had provided funds and food to schools for many years
prior to that. In signing the 1946 Act, President Harry S Truman said,
"Nothing is more important in our national life than the welfare of our
children, and proper nourishment comes first in attaining this welfare."

About 7.1 million children were participating in the National School Lunch
Program by the end of its first year, 1946-47. By 1970, 22 million children
were participating, and by 1980 the figure was nearly 27 million. In 1990,
an average of 24 million children ate school lunch every day. In Fiscal
Year 1997, more than 26.3 million children each day got their lunch through
the National School Lunch Program. Since the modern program began, more
than 170 billion lunches have been served.

9. How much does the program cost?
Congress appropriated $5.46 billion for the school lunch program for Fiscal
Year 1999. The 1998 appropriation was $5.13 billion.

By comparison, the lunch program's total cost in 1947 was $70 million; in
1950, $119.7 million; 1960, $225.8 million; 1970, $565.5 million; 1975,
$1.7 billion; 1980, $3.2 billion; 1985, $3.4 billion; and 1990, $3.7
billion.

For more information:

For more information, contact the USDA Food and Nutrition Service Public
Information Staff at 703-305-2286, or by mail at 3101 Park Center Drive,
Room 912, Alexandria, Virginia 22302. The Food and Nutrition Service was
formerly known as the Food and Consumer Service.

Last Updated: 09/28/00
http://fns1.usda.gov:80/cnd/Lunch/AboutLunch/faqs.htm
For more information see also:
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