The school lunch and breakfast programs “are an important source of basic nutrition for children,” write two USDA economists whose analysis indicates that many schools spend more to prepare a breakfast than they see in federal reimbursement. The problem is worst for small schools and districts with comparatively low breakfast participation rates, say economists Michael Ollinger and Joanne Guthrie. Those districts “may struggle to balance nutrition and financial goals,” say Ollinger and Guthrie in a report on meal costs and economies of scale for school food programs.
“Our cost model suggests that large economies of scale exist in breakfast production,” the report says. The cost per breakfast can drop by 50 percent as schools ramp up participation. Ollinger and Guthrie pointed to a 2008 study that calculated schools had to serve at least 91 breakfasts to cover the cost of labor for the meals. “Small schools or those with low participation rates may find it difficult to serve this many breakfasts,” they said.
With Congress due to reauthorize child nutrition programs this year, one of the administration’s goals is to expand school breakfast participation. An average 30.5 million students ate a hot lunch each day during the 2014/15 school year, compared to 13.6 million breakfasts served daily. Child nutrition programs cost more than $21 billion a year.
“While more schools now offer breakfast, students’ breakfast participation is still less than half of lunch participation,” say Ollinger and Guthrie. “Participation remains highly concentrated among the neediest children with 85 percent of breakfasts served for free or at a reduced price.”
Small districts could reduce costs by collaborating with neighbors in purchasing food or in menu planning, said the report. “They may also offer less costly forms of breakfast such as grab-n-go bagged breakfasts or breakfast in the classroom. An increase in participation, by achieving a better balance between breakfasts and lunches served, would also be expected to reduce breakfast costs.”
In general, suburban schools served the smallest portion of breakfasts compared to lunches. Schools in the urban Southwest had the highest breakfast to lunch ratio.