<P> The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 79 P.L. 396 , 60 Stat. 230 ) is a United States federal law that created the National School Lunch Program ( NSLP ) to provide low - cost or free school lunch meals to qualified students through subsidies to schools . The program was established as a way to prop up food prices by absorbing farm surpluses , while at the same time providing food to school age children . It was named after Richard Russell , Jr. , signed into law by President Harry S. Truman in 1946 , and entered the federal government into schools dietary programs on June 4 , 1946 . </P>
<P> The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 79 P.L. 396 , 60 Stat. 230 ) is a United States federal law that created the National School Lunch Program ( NSLP ) to provide low - cost or free school lunch meals to qualified students through subsidies to schools . The program was established as a way to prop up food prices by absorbing farm surpluses , while at the same time providing food to school age children . It was named after Richard Russell , Jr. , signed into law by President Harry S. Truman in 1946 , and entered the federal government into schools dietary programs on June 4 , 1946 . </P>
when was the national school lunch act passed
when was the national school lunch act passed
1946
1946