National School Lunch Act
[2] It was named after Richard Russell Jr., signed into law by President Harry S. Truman in 1946,[3] and entered the federal government into schools' dietary programs on June 4, 1946.
[1] The majority of the support provided to schools participating in the program comes in the form of a cash reimbursement for each meal served.
The National School Lunch Program serves 30.5 million children each day for $8.7 billion for the fiscal year 2007.
School feeding in the United States underwent the same evolution as in Europe, beginning with sporadic food services undertaken by private societies and associations interested in child welfare and education.
The Children's Aid Society of New York initiated a program in 1853, serving meals to students attending the vocational school.
[4] In 1894, the Starr Center Association in Philadelphia began serving penny lunches in one school, later expanding the service to another.
He requested that a system be established to ensure that the lunches served would be based upon sound principles of nutrition and required that the program be under the direction of a home economics graduate.
The experiment proved successful, and the following year lunch services were extended to the Southern Manual Training School and later to three additional units.
[4] In January 1910, an experimental program for elementary schools took the form of a mid-morning lunch prepared by the class in Home Economics three days each week.
[6] As the scope of the meal supply expanded, local governments and school district boards could not provide the funds necessary to carry the increasing load.
The earliest Federal aid came from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in 1932 and 1933 when it granted loans to several towns in southwestern Missouri to cover the cost of labor employed in preparing and serving school lunches.
[7] Needy families and school lunch programs became constructive outlets for the commodities purchased by the USDA under the terms of such legislation.
Thus they would be using foods at school which would not otherwise be purchased in the market place and farmers would be helped by obtaining an outlet for their products at a reasonable price.
These funds came from customs duties and were specifically designated to encourage agricultural surplus consumption via exports and domestic donations.
[12] Along with larger portions of fruits and vegetables, the National School Lunch Program now enforces a variety of other nutritional requirements.
[13] In late 2009, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies released School Meals: Building Blocks For Healthy Children.
[15] The day-to-day observation of teachers and administrators of the relationship between inadequate nutrition and behavior and the ability to learn is substantiated by scientific studies.
[15] In December 2009, a report was released that showed that fast food restaurants were far more rigorous in checking for bacteria and dangerous pathogens in beef and chicken than the school lunch program.
[20] Reasons for non-participation in the program were numerous but, in low-income areas and large urban centers, low participation was particularly evident.
In some instances, the portions served to high school students are not adjusted to meet their needs and they seek other sources of service where their tastes and appetites can be satisfied.
[25] One of the major reasons for this study to be done is the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act which requires schools to establish science-based nutrition standards for competitive foods called a wellness plan.
In a 1998 study of 16 randomly selected schools in St. Paul, Minnesota, the authors discovered a negative correlation between à la carte lines, vending machine use, and fruit and vegetable consumption.
Additional costs also make it difficult to meet federally mandated nutrition requirements because using the best palatable foods for students becomes too expensive.
"[24] For example, in 2008, some school systems in Alabama, California, and Texas raised meal prices to keep up with "steep increases in food costs.
This method of cost adjustment leaves either the school district or paying students to bear the burden of the price increase.
[33] Each year since October 9, 1962,[34] the United States Congress requests the president to issue a proclamation calling the country to observe the week.
