Monday, October 06, 2014

Federal Lunch Standard Costs To Triple

School districts will take on lunch costs that are expected to triple in fiscal year 2015, leading to financial strain as fewer students participate in the program, the School Nutrition Association said Tuesday. "School nutrition professionals have led the way in promoting improved diets for students and are committed to serving healthy meals," said SNA CEO Patricia Montague. "Despite all of these efforts, fewer students are eating school meals, and the escalating costs of meeting overly prescriptive regulations are putting school meal programs in financial jeopardy."  The group, which represents 55,000 school nutrition professionals in the U.S., said the increase is based on USDA estimates that "will force local school districts and states to absorb $1.22 billion in new food, labor and administrative costs in Fiscal Year 2015 alone, up from $362 million in additional costs in FY 2014." SNA said districts are further strained as fewer students are participating in the program since the changes went into effect. More than one million fewer students choose school lunch each day, which cuts revenue for schools, the group notes...more

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