Lunch and Breakfast Menus

NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or no-cost lunches to children each school day. The program was established under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, signed into law by President Harry Truman in 1946.

About 7.1 million children participated in the NSLP in its first year. Since then, the program has reached millions of children nationwide: 1970: 22.4 million children; 1980: 26.6 million children; 1990: 21.1 million children; 2000: 27.3 million children; 2010: 31.8 million children; and 2016: 30.4 million children.

SCHOOL Breakfast PROGRAM

The School Breakfast Program (SBP) is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and non-profit private schools and residential child care institutions. The SBP started in 1966 as a pilot project, and was made a permanent entitlement program by Congress in 1975.

Participation in the SBP has slowly but steadily grown over the years: 1970: 0.5 million children; 1980: 3.6 million children; 1990: 4.0 million children; 2000: 7.5 million children; 2010: 11.67 million children; and 2016: 14.57 million children.