Federal Child Nutrition Programs for Schools
Several federal child nutrition programs provide funds for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and sometimes dinner so that children can be fed while they are in school, after and before school, and during the summer. These programs are entitlements, which means that every eligible child can receive their nutritional benefits.
- School Breakfast Program. Research shows that eating a nutritious breakfast is key to a student’s ability to concentrate and learn during the school day, and the closer to class time students eat the better they learn. Some schools have applied this research to the classroom by having breakfast served on carts to students on the way to class or in the classroom every morning at the start of first period. And at all times of the day, food can be combined with learning opportunities. The Pittston Area Capable Readers Program in Pennsylvania has combined the School Breakfast Program with a read-aloud program to create a positive attitude toward nutrition and reading. Principal Catherine Lapsansky reports that the morning meal draws the students in, so “the reading program would not succeed without the benefits of the School Breakfast Program.”
- National School Lunch Program. Almost all public schools, 95 percent, participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), which serves an average of more than twenty-six million meals per day. It typically provides students with one-third of their Recommended Dietary Allowances, which gives them the food they need to continue to learn throughout the day. Without the school lunch program, many students would have nothing to eat during lunch time. Some students don’t participate in free and reduced meal programs, when they are available, because they do not want to be labeled “poor.” One way to counter the stigma is to offer “universal” free breakfast or lunch, in other words, free for all children. Schools with a relatively high proportion of low-income students can serve universal free school breakfast and school lunch using federal paperwork-saving mechanisms called Provisions II and III.
- Afterschool Snacks. At the end of the day, students are hungry because they ate lunch hours before. Schools can use additional federal funds from the National School Lunch Program to serve snacks to students age 19 and under in afterschool and youth development programs, even if a school’s afterschool program is operated by a separate non-profit such as the YMCA. Many afterschool programs are using the food provided by the child nutrition programs to attract children. In the 21st Century Learning Centers operated by Washoe County School District in Nevada, Joe Saunders, the grant coordinator, views the snacks and meals as a pivotal recruiting tool to pull in children, as well as a way to ensure that the children in the centers are able to learn.
- Summer Food Service Program. The summer, and long vacations, can be especially difficult time for low-income families that depend upon school meals to feed their children during the school year. Schools, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies can sponsor the Summer Food Service Program to serve children up to two meals a day. In St. Helens School District #502 in Oregon, which combines a summer recreation program with the Summer Food Service Program, one child rode his bike seven miles each day to participate in the program.
Other Nutrition resources for Families & Children.
Food Stamp Program: The child nutrition programs are designed to make sure that children are not going hungry while they are in school or participating in out of school time programs. But it is just as important that children not be hungry in their homes. The Food Stamp Program, which provides direct nutritional assistance to low-income families, is considered the first line of defense against childhood hunger. Many students who qualify for free or reduced-price school meals qualify for food stamps, but often are not receiving them.
Child and Adult Care Food Program provides nutritious meals and snacks to infants, young children, and impaired adults who receive day care.
Eligibility for the school meals and snacks is determined based on a child’s household income. Schools collect applications from students that help determine how many students are eligible for free and reduced-rate meals, and in some cases snacks. The school meals application is important, not only because it determines reimbursement rates for school meals, but it often is used to determine the amount of additional state and federal educational funding that support educating low-income students, such as Title I. School meal applications can also be used to link low-income students with additional services, such as health insurance.
What can schools do to ensure that students are not hungry?
- Learn more about these programs and how your school can apply from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Services.
- Learn more about other schools and model programs for participation in these child nutrition programs from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), a national organization working to encourage broader use of the child nutrition programs and to provide technical assistance to educators, and nonprofit organizations. FRAC’s website also includes hunger statistics and profiles of each state’s participation in Federal Food Programs.
- Learn about the school food service industry, including child nutrition and federal nutrition program facts, from the American School Food Service Association.
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