Published: June 4, 2026
📸 Photo credit: Richmond County School System, GA
June 4 marks the 80th anniversary of the passage of the National School Lunch Act, a landmark federal law that established the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Today, nearly 30 million children participate in the NSLP across 94,000 schools each school day. Research consistently shows that participation in school lunch is associated with positive health outcomes, improved academic achievement, and reduced financial pressure on families. With high food and living costs, and food insecurity affecting far too many children and families, school meals remain a vital public health investment that helps ensure children get the nutrition they need to grow and thrive.
📸 Photo credit: Richmond County School System, GA
Why School Meals Matter
- School Meals Support Food Security
For many students, school meals provide the most reliable source of nutrition each day. Access to school meals, providing consistent nutritious food to students, is critical in decreasing hunger and fighting food insecurity. In fact, receiving a free or reduced-price school lunch through the NSLP reduces food insecurity by at least 3.8 percent. Additionally, food insecurity rates are higher in the summer, demonstrating how important school meals are in providing food access for students. Mitigating food insecurity is a necessary step in improving students’ health, learning, and well-being. - School Meals Support Academic Achievement and Better Classroom Behavior Evidence supports the positive impact of school meals on academic achievement. School meals combat the negative effect of hunger on children’s learning and help ensure students are well-nourished and ready to succeed. Specifically, students who participate in school meals have improved attendance and academic achievement. School meals are also associated with fewer behavioral and attention problems, which facilitate a better learning environment for all students.
- School Meals Support Children’s Health and Well-being
School meals must meet federal nutrition standards and are associated with an increase in fruit and vegetable consumption and an overall increase in diet quality among children. These balanced meals fuel students with proper nutrition, improve mental health outcomes such as anxiety, and support physical health. Participation in school meals promotes long-term good health for students by reducing the risk of chronic diseases. - School Meals Support Household Budgets
As families struggle to make ends meet, school meals support household finances, allowing families to stretch their budgets to purchase nutritious meals for their own dinner tables or cover other essential costs.
📸 Photo credit: Richmond County School System, GA
Community Eligibility Provision and Healthy School Meals for All
Despite the numerous benefits associated with school breakfast and lunch, far too many children are missing out on nutritious school meals each school day, hindering their health and threatening their ability to learn. The best practice for increasing children’s access to school meals and expanding the reach of their benefits to even more children is to offer all students school meals at no charge. Programs like the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which allows high-poverty schools to offer free school meals to all children, increase participation in school breakfast and lunch, while simultaneously reducing administrative burdens, stigma, and hunger throughout the school day.
Even more impactful is Healthy School Meals for All (HSMFA), the popular policy that states have implemented to offer all children school meals at no charge regardless of individual household income. Currently, nine states have implemented permanent Healthy School Meals for All policies, bringing the benefits of free school meals to millions of children and their families. CEP and Healthy School Meals for All prioritize students’ health and learning by maximizing the positive outcomes of increasing children’s access to school meals.
Call to Action: Pass a Nationwide Healthy School Meals for All Policy
As we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the National School Lunch Act and the vast impacts school meals have on students’ health and development, learning, and wellness, and on their families, we must take the next step forward by expanding all children’s access to healthy school meals free of charge.
We urge Members of Congress to pass a permanent, nationwide Healthy School Meals for All policy, ensuring that all children have access to the nutrition they need to succeed throughout the school day.