Title: School Meal Trends & Stats
Headings: School Meal Trends & Stats
School Meal Trends & Stats
School Meals During the Pandemic
Benefits of School Meals
Participation, Meals Served and Program Cost
SBP Annual Cost:
Reimbursement Rates
NSLP Reimbursement Rates for the 2020-21 School Year:
SBP Reimbursement Rates for the 2020-21 School Year:
Eligibility for Free and Reduced Price Meals
School Meal Prices and Unpaid Meals
Unpaid meals and charge policies:
Eliminating the reduced price copay:
Community Eligibility Provision (CEP):
Cost to Produce School Meals
Breakdown in costs:
Typical expenses:
Lunch Period Scheduling

Content: School Meal Trends & Stats
School Meal Trends & Stats
School Meals During the Pandemic
Benefits of School Meals
Participation, Meals Served and Program Cost
Reimbursement Rates
Eligibility for Free and Reduced Price Meals
School Meal Prices and Unpaid Meals
Cost to Produce School Meals
Lunch Period Scheduling
School Meals During the Pandemic
When COVID-19 forced schools to close in mid-March 2020, school nutrition professionals quickly adapted their programs to ensure hungry students continued to have access to healthy school meals. SNA's Impact of COVID-19 on School Nutrition Programs survey released in May 2020 found that meals were distributed in multiple ways, with 81% of responding school meal programs distributing grab-and-go meals at drive through pick-up sites, 42% delivering meals directly to student homes and 32% utilizing school bus routes to distribute meals throughout neighborhoods. SNA's subsequent Back to School 2020 survey revealed that school nutrition professionals continued to safely serve students whether they were returning to school in person or engaged in distance learning. Thanks to regulatory waivers, extended through School Year (SY) 2020/2021, schools can offer free grab-and-go meals to all children age 18 and under through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO). Schools are permitted to offer multiple days worth of meals at a time and parents can pick up meals for their children without the child present. This regulatory flexibility helps speed up meal distribution, reducing contact between students and staff and improving safety by eliminating requirements to collect payment or verify student eligibility for free meals. Unfortunately, COVID-19 school closures have had a severe negative financial impact on school meal programs. Due to declining revenue and higher pandemic meal costs, 54% of school meal programs reported a financial loss in SY 2019/20 and a harrowing 62% anticipate a loss for SY 2020/21, with an additional 28% of respondents unsure of what to expect. SNA is advocating for federal emergency relief funds to ensure school meal programs can continue to support America's students. Back to the top
Benefits of School Meals
Balanced nutrition throughout the day contributes to student success in and out of the classroom.