WASHINGTON, April 29, 2025 – Two new reports from the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) reveal that offering school meals to all students at no charge leads to more students participating in school breakfast and lunch. The Reach of School Breakfast and Lunch During the 2023–2024 School Year finds that more students received school breakfast and lunch last school year compared to the previous school year, due in large part to schools adopting the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) and state-level Healthy School Meals for All (HSMFA) policies.
Free-school-meals-for-all approaches to keep students fed reduce the administrative burden on school nutrition departments, eliminate school meal debt, reduce stigma, and foster innovative service models like breakfast in the classroom and other alternative breakfast models.
“More students participate in school breakfast and school lunch when meals are available at no charge. Healthy School Meals for All policies ensure every child has access to the nutrition they need to learn and thrive,” said Crystal FitzSimons, interim president of FRAC. “Additional strategies, such as providing students with enough time to eat and implementing innovative breakfast models, will ensure the programs continue to grow to meet the need.”
The report finds that nearly 15.4 million children participated in school breakfast during the 2023–2024 school year — an increase of nearly 1.1 million children (7.4 percent) when compared to the 2022–2023 school year, while nearly 29.4 million children received a school lunch — an increase of 1.2 million (4.4 percent) children compared to the previous school year. Participation in free and reduced-price school breakfast and school lunch by students from households with low incomes increased by 8 percent and 6.8 percent respectively compared to the 2022–2023 school year.
Research shows starting the day with school breakfast supports better academic performance, concentration, and standardized test scores. School meals provide essential daily nutrients that children need, helping reduce food insecurity and the risk of diet-related issues.
Despite these benefits, participation still varies across the country. Only two states — New Mexico and West Virginia — and the District of Columbia met FRAC’s challenging but attainable goal of reaching 70 students from households with low incomes with school breakfast for every 100 participating in school lunch, proving there is ample opportunity for growth in many states. For the 48 states that did not meet this goal, FRAC calculated that 2.5 million additional children would have started the school day with a nutritious school breakfast if the states had met the breakfast-lunch-ratio goal, and states left nearly $754 million in federal funding on the table in the 2023–2024 school year by not meeting the goal.
“There is a lot to celebrate with the growth in breakfast and lunch participation, but we still have a long way to go,” said FitzSimons. “Participation by students from households with low incomes is still below pre-pandemic levels, and students all over the country are still missing out on the benefit of free school meals. Being well-fed is critical to students’ health and learning.”
FRAC calls for action at both the federal and state levels to expand access to free school meals. The anti-hunger organization is urging Congress to build on the momentum of the eight states that have Healthy School Meals for All policies and make Healthy School Meals for All a reality nationwide.
At the state level, FRAC urges more states to adopt Healthy School Meals for All policies. These policies are proven to increase school meals participation, reduce childhood hunger, support academic achievement, improve student behavior, and ease financial and logistical burdens for families and schools. Eight states — California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico and Vermont — have shown what’s possible with HSMFA. Learn more in this year’s FRAC report on The State of Healthy School Meals for All.
To continue progress on growing school meal participation, FRAC also calls on Congress to reject harmful proposals that would limit access to free meals in high-need schools. Learn more.
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The Food Research & Action Center improves the nutrition, health, and well-being of people struggling against poverty-related hunger in the United States through advocacy, partnerships, and by advancing bold and equitable policy solutions. To learn more, visit FRAC.org and follow us on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky.
