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FRAC report finds 12.4M students received free and reduced-price breakfasts last year
Shawna De La Rosa
Feb. 14, 2020
Dive Brief:
The School Breakfast Scorecard, released by Food Research & Action
Center (FRAC), reports 12.4 million children received a free or
reduced-price school breakfast on an average school day in the 2018-19
school year, down 6,000 students — a relatively small percentage — from
the prior year.
For every 100 students who participated in the National School Lunch
program, 57.5 students participated in the School Breakfast Program.
School breakfast participation among low-income students flattened,
while overall participation in school breakfast grew, and school lunch
participation decreased. These changes are attributed in the report to:
A growing economy shrinking the number of low-income students eligible to receive free or reduced-price school meals
Decreased school enrollment overall
Natural disasters impacting school nutrition operations
Dive Insight:
In 2018-19, 14.6 million children ate breakfast at school, an overall
increase of 46,000 students from the previous school year. The agency
also released "School Breakfast: Making it Work in Large School
Districts," which looks at school breakfast participation, trends and
strategies for reaching more low-income children in 76 of the nation’s
largest school districts.
In an effort to up student participation in breakfast programs, a Utah
advocacy organization wants schools to offer free breakfast after the
first bell, allow students with long bus rides to eat during their
commute, and give older students the opportunity to get a second
breakfast. The changes would be aimed at increasing school breakfast
program participation in the state, where only 39% of students eat
breakfast at school. Advocates of these initiatives say if breakfast is
only served before school starts, low-income students may miss out.
There is also evidence providing free breakfast at school lowers the
suspension rates. A study in the National Bureau of Economic Research
estimates elementary students whose schools participated in the
Community Eligibility Provision had a third of a percentage less of a
chance to receive an out-of-school suspension. That reduction is about
half of a percentage point for middle school students. Previous studies
of the program showed modest benefits to academic performance and
student health.
The private sector is pitching in by supplying free breakfast to
students. Kellogg, best known for its breakfast brands, funded a
breakfast cart that goes into a common area where students grab
breakfast while socializing with their friends. Feeding students at
breakfast and lunch is a good start, says Stephanie Slingerland,
director of philanthropy and social impact at Kellogg. The next
challenge is providing dinners. She says after-school meals are on the
horizon as the next hunger problem to tackle.
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