History of the School Lunch Program

Join parents around the country for National School Lunch Week (October 13th-17th). Started originally in 1962 as a PR Campaign to promote greater participation in the School Lunch Program has now been reinvented by Two Angry Mom’s as the Lunch Sit In. Go to school and sit with your child for lunch. See what he or she is getting for hot lunch or eating out of their lunch box. Then write to your principal, school board, mayor, congressman or governor and demand help in improving what we serve America’s youth for lunch.

In the United States the first school lunch programs was initiated in 1853 by the Children’s Aid Society of New York City. It was a modest beginning but set the stage for a grand movement, offering nutritious meals to school aged children nationwide. For many of these children, this would be the one and only hot or complete meal of the day. It was, and still is, a noble cause to feed America’s youth.

In 1906 two books were published: Poverty and The Bitter Cry of the Children. These two books were the first to examine the link between poor nutrition and the resulting negative impact on learning and productivity. By 1913, School Lunches were operating in 30 cities and 14 states. However by 1918 and the beginning of WWI, the realization of how desperate the youth of America was painfully obvious. Enormous numbers of young men could not enter the military due to poor physical condition related to malnutrition. By 1919 2930 schools were now receiving hot lunches.

Emma Smedley, the original lunch lady, was the first professionally trained director of school lunches. She was employed by the Philadelphia School District. In 1920 she published a book that would ultimately influence the National School Lunch Act. Her book, The School Lunch: Its Organization and Management outlined the two factors important to the school lunch program:

1. Meet the food requirements of the child, helping to lay a foundation of physical vigor upon which the structure of mental training can be built.
2. To teach the child to develop wise food habits.

The 1930’s and the Great Depression made feeding America’s youth and their families nearly hopeless. Dr. Mary de Garmo Bryan, a professor at Teacher’s College of Columbia University in New York City, emphasized the importance of managing the child nutrition programs. The Federal Government developed programs to ensure that children nationwide would get the food they needed. The Works Program Administration (WPA) established food standards for school lunches and created jobs for many women as dietitians, home economist and workers in the school lunch program. By 1936 schools were receiving farm commodities in excess of 6,000,000 pounds to be used in lunches.

By 1941, WPA lunch programs were operating in all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico, yet with the start of WWII, it was painfully obvious that America’s youth was still badly undernourished. The USDA stepped in to help supply food.

In 1946 (June, 4, 19946) President Harry S Truman signed The Nation School Lunch Act permanently authoring federal support of school lunch programs. The Act has been amended many times since its signing, however the purpose of the act has not changed. It provides for meals based on tested nutritional standards, include all children, prohibits discrimination of any type and provides funds for non-surplus foods and requires accountability through record keeping and reporting.

Preamble to the National School Lunch Act: It is here by declared to be the policy of Congress, as a measure of national security, to safe guard the health and well being of the Nation’s children and to encourage domestic consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities and other food by assisting the States, through grant-in aid and other means, in providing an adequate supply of food and other facilities for the establishment, maintenance , operation and expansion of non-profit school lunch programs.

In 1954, Congress added the Special Milk Program to schools authorizing funds providing each child ½ pint of milk per day.

Through the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s the school lunch program suffered in the United States. We could put a man on the moon but had children suffering from starvation; we include daycare and summer school in the programs to receive funding, but slashed funding in excess of $1400 million, then altered the National School Lunch Act to include Adult Daycare as well. The program, its funding and resources were being strained.

In 1989 The National Food Service Management Institute (NFSMI) was authorized by congress and by 1991 it had authorized its funding. Its mission is to provide information and services that promote the continuous improvement of child nutrition programs.

The 1990’s saw a resurgence in the importance of proving healthy meals and meet stricter Dietary Guidelines. Congress and the USDA with the help and guidance of NFSMI enacted the healthy meals for Healthy Americans Act. However it was already too late. In 2004, The Journal of the American Medical Association published its finding of a recent study:

• 17.1% of children were overweight in 2004
• 13.9 % of children were overweight in 2000
• Less than 5% of children were overweight in 1960

Congress responded by including a requirement in the 2004 Reauthorization Act for all schools participating in the National School Lunch Program:

• Develop a local school wellness policy by the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year.
• Mandated that a food safety program consistent with the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point be established in each school by the beginning of 2005 school year.
• Require schools have 2 health inspections annually and made the Fruits and Vegetable Program permanent.

Some schools of the nation have done away with lunch programs due to costs and logistics, opting to use outside caterers and local restaurants to help fill the gap. This is costly and not always convenient, and many times unhealthy.  In my own informal poll of friends and associates nationwide I found there are no consistencies. Some great schools still have a free lunch program that seems on the surface to be healthy and nutritious; others pay $2.50 per meal and feel it is too high for what they are getting; others are paying $4.00-$4.25 for organic meals on biodegradable plates; and others that contracts out with 6-8 local restaurants for takeout every day. Crazy! The online poll from the last two weeks reveals that 25% of you think your school's lunch program "totally stinks"; 8% think is is great; 30% believe it needs improving and 37% don't have a hot lunch program at thier school.  What do your children do, bring lunch or buy lunch?

About Lunch Fact Sheet
Interactive Timeline:  The Complete History of The School Lunch Program
Information on How to Improve Your School's Lunch Program