Over the decade ending in fiscal 2019, before the pandemic, student participation in the school lunch program fell by 7 percent, to an average of 29.6 million meals a day, said a USDA report on the program. In enrollment and cost, school lunch is the nation’s second-largest public nutrition program, behind SNAP, and operates in around 100,000 schools.
At the same time participation was declining, the portion of students receiving meals for free or at a reduced price because of low household income grew to 74 percent in 2019. It was 63 percent in 2009, when participation averaged 31.3 million students a day.
The pandemic disrupted school food operations. Participation fell to an average of 11 million students a day in fiscal 2021. It has since returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to USDA data.
Schools quickly embraced the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), after it became available in the 2014-15 school year. CEP allows schools in low-income areas to serve meals for free to all students. Within four years, 30 percent of schools taking part in the school lunch program were using the CEP. Student participation in the school lunch program was nearly 7 percent higher in CEP schools than in similar schools that did not utilize the provision.
The Economic Research Service report on trends and issues in the school lunch program is available here.