School lunch prices increase across North Carolina
In a country where over 20 million children receive free or reduced school lunch each day, cheap prices are essential. Most students who purchase school lunch do so because they cannot afford to bring food from home. In North Carolina, 18.6 percent of households end up food insecure at least one point in the year, leaving families desperate to find a way for their children to eat.
School lunch prices in Wake County have, for the most part, stayed fairly cheap. Students in elementary school who do not have reduced lunch have been paying $1.00 for breakfast and $2.00 for lunch; middle and high school students have been paying $1.25 for breakfast and $2.25 for lunch. Over the past summer, though, Wake County approved a $.25 increase for all schools on all meals to accommodate with the increase in teacher’s wages and increasing costs of healthy food. Students who qualify for free or reduced lunch face no changes with the prices.
While this price increase is understandable due to schools having to uphold government regulations on what food they are allowed to serve, the increased meal price is troubling. At first glance, the $.25 increase seems hardly damaging or even a very large change to what it was before. But for students who do not qualify for free or reduced meals, and depend on the school to provide two out of three of those meals, the price adds up. Breakfast and lunch in just one day adds up to $4, and by the end of a five-day week, that quickly adds up to $20.
There is a surprising amount of students that could very well qualify for reduced lunch, but do not fit in the income bracket. Some students’ parents or guardians may make just barely above the required minimum amount, disqualifying students from receiving free or reduced meals when they cannot even afford regular priced breakfast or lunch. This leaves students with only one option that becomes the main one: they forgo eating either essential meal because they cannot afford them.
The issue contributes to an endless cycle of poverty and malnutrition, even in a country as developed as ours. With new government implemented rules that schools must serve low fat dairy, whole grains, and lean meats, counties have to raise their prices to accommodate to the dietary requirements. These foods are not cheap, by any means. The meals have become healthier than school lunch was ten years ago, which is an excellent development; but students who cannot afford the regular priced lunch prices miss out on necessary nutrition and end up going hungry. Sometimes, those students also miss out on dinner at home, leaving them truly starving while food is right there in front of them.
