Food · Facts & sources
6 sourced facts about lunch and school lunches, each with the context behind the number. 4 more are in today's round and appear here after it closes.
Answer30 million
The program serves pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students and residential child care institutions.
Source: School Nutrition Association, School Meal Statistics schoolnutrition.org
Answerover 95,000
USDA's Economic Research Service puts it at nearly 100,000 public and nonprofit private schools.
Source: School Nutrition Association, School Meal Statistics schoolnutrition.org
Answer$3.00
High school lunches averaged $3.25.
Source: School Nutrition Association, School Meal Statistics schoolnutrition.org
Answer9.7%
The split was almost even: 4.8% on food at home and 4.9% on food away from home.
Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Food Prices and Spending (2025) ers.usda.gov
Answer21.3 million
About 0.8 million are reduced-price and 8.1 million are full-price.
Source: School Nutrition Association, School Meal Statistics schoolnutrition.org
Answer$42,900
Free meals cover households at or below 130% of the federal poverty line; reduced-price meals go up to 185%.
Source: School Nutrition Association, School Meal Statistics schoolnutrition.org