Tough Times Mean More Students Get Free Lunches
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Tough Times Mean More Students Get Free Lunches
Schools are providing free lunches to growing numbers of students as the economy sags.
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(December 11, 2008)—Schools across the country report that many more lunches are going out of the kitchen under the National School Lunch Program as the struggling economy hits families hard and they look for ways to economize.

The program fed more than 30 million children in the 2006-07 school year with federal and state funds.

According to the School Nutrition Association, which represents workers who provide the meals, almost 80 percent of schools surveyed report an increase in the number of free lunches served this year.

The organization said an average of 425,000 more students are participating in the programs overall, but as those numbers rise, schools could feel their budgets stretched as well.
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