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Before 1894, a nationwide program for school lunch did not exist. Then in 1894, one school in Philadelphia began offering lunches for one cent. The program was effective, and eight additional schools were added to the penny lunch program ("A History of School Lunch," 2019). This program was put on by the Women's Educational and Industrial Union and the Starr Center Association in Boston. Students learned healthy eating habits and how to choose their foods wisely. (Rude, 2016).

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Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University

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A nonprofit social and educational agency, the WEIU was founded in 1877 by Harriet Clisby, a doctor, and incorporated in 1880. To accomplish this mission, the organization was arranged in committees or departments that throughout its history provided education and job placement services for women, social services for the needy, social programs for members, and operated a number of retail shops. These departments continued to evolve as different needs arose.

In 2002, the union changed its name to the Women's Union, and in 2004 sold its buildings, dedicating the income from their sales to future programs. In July 2006, the union merged with the nonprofit organization Crittenton to become the Crittenton Women's Union, dedicated to transforming "the course of low-income women's lives so that they can attain economic independence and create better futures for themselves and their families."

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Women's Educational and Industrial Union Records | Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University

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A nonprofit social and educational agency, the WEIU was founded in 1877 by Harriet Clisby, a doctor, and incorporated in 1880. To accomplish this mission, the organization was arranged in committees or departments that throughout its history provided education and job placement services for women, social services for the needy, social programs for members, and operated a number of retail shops.

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In 1920, a Home Economics class in Boston began serving lunches to elementary students three days a week. A challenge was having no cafeterias or lunchrooms in schools, so students simply ate at their desks. As the beginning of the 20th century unfolded, other cities in the nation began following this "impromptu school lunch program." However, the school lunch program did not experience nationwide success as was hoped for. A barrier was not yet having any government legislation on the state or federal level that guaranteed the continuing success of school lunch (Rude, 2016).

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Serving a warm meal was difficult for schools in rural areas because there was no space for developing a kitchen or dining area. Some teachers had the clever idea to use the stoves that were normally for heating the classrooms. Large kettles of soup were left to heat on the stoves. The "pint jar method" became popular, where students would bring jars filled with reheatable items such as macaroni or soup and place them in buckets of water on top of the stove. By lunch time, the food would be ready to serve. Parents began giving donations of pots and pans. Yet even with all this development, efforts did not progress fast enough. Kitchen equipment was expensive, and adding a dining room would require considerable remodeling and spending (Avey, 2015).

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School lunch has evolved quite a bit over the last century. Serving a standard lunch to school children started, in both Europe and the United States, with private organizations who were interested in child welfare. It was not a nationwide event, but rather something that took place in individual states and cities over an extended period of time. At the turn of the 20th century, concern over malnutrition in children inspired philanthropic groups to provide balanced meals to students during their lunch hour. At that time, the midday meal was considered the main meal of the day. Most families worked and went to school near the home, so they were afforded the luxury of breaking for a meal at their own dining table. Children either ate at home with their families, or packed a lunch if they attended a school that was too far away. Boarding school students ate formal meals in the dining hall with their fellow classmates.

Philadelphia and Boston were the first major cities to actively attempt to implement a school lunch program in the United States. Philadelphia began by serving penny lunches at one school in 1894. Eventually a lunch committee was added to the Home and School League and the penny lunch program was extended to eight additional schools throughout the city. In Boston, the Women's Educational and Industrial Union began serving hot lunches to high schools and a centrally located kitchen was used to prepare the meals, which were later transported to the participating schools. In January 1910, Home Economics classes in Boston began an experimental program serving an early lunch to elementary school students three days a week. On the off days, a simple meal of milk and sandwiches was served. Since there wasn't a lunchroom in the building, students would eat at their desks. Other major cities followed suit in a similar fashion throughout the early part of the 20th century.

Schools in rural areas faced a unique problem in that there was rarely space for developing a kitchen and dining area, so serving a warm meal proved to be quite difficult. Some clever teachers began to utilize the stoves that served to heat the classrooms. Soups were placed in large kettles and left to heat on top of the stove. In Wisconsin a program called the "pint jar method" became quite popular. Students would bring pint jars filled with reheatable items like macaroni, cocoa and soup and would place them in buckets of water on top of the stove. By lunchtime, the food would be warm and far more comforting than cold sandwiches. As Parent-Teacher Associations became involved in the school lunch movement, donations in the form of funds, pots and pans and sometimes even small cooking ranges were given. These types of groups were responsible for expanding school lunch programs throughout the 1920s.

Unfortunately, the school lunch program was not growing as rapidly as necessary. Without any sort of legislation that would guarantee the continuing success of school lunch in the years ahead, school boards were reluctant to take on the program. In addition, kitchen equipment was expensive and adding a dining room often meant extensive remodeling. Finally, in 1946, the school lunch program was made official when the 79th congress recognized its importance. President Harry S. Truman signed the National School Lunch Act, authored by Senator Richard B. Russell Jr.:

"It is hereby declared to be the policy of Congress, as a measure of national security, to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation's children and to encourage the domestic consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities and other food, by assisting the States, through grants-in aid and other means, in providing an adequate supply of food and other facilities for the establishment, maintenance, operation and expansion of nonprofit school lunch programs."

- Sec. 2 The National School Lunch Act, 1946

The concept of the cafeteria arose as people increasingly found work in factories that took them farther away from home, making it impossible to return for the midday meal. The first eatery to cater to workers in need of a quick and budget-friendly meal was New York's Exchange Buffet, which opened during the 1880s. The Exchange served only men and offered a self-service style of dining. Later, as a nod to the assembly lines found in cafeterias, brothers William and Samuel Childs opened several lunchrooms under the name Childs Restaurant, in which patrons would line up and push their trays along the counters as they perused the offerings, choosing what they liked. This successful cafeteria model spread across the country at rapid speed, particularly across California, earning it the nickname "Cafeteria Belt." The standard offerings didn't differ much from what we might see in cafeterias today- hamburgers, French fries, spaghetti, boiled vegetables, slices of pie and of course, Jell-O. Schools eventually adopted this model of cafeteria-style serving, which was practical for serving large groups of children.

School lunch is something most of us have experienced at some point in our lives. Whether we've opted to bring our own brown bag lunch or took a chance on the cafeteria's fish sticks, school lunch is a rite of passage for most Americans. Low income families often rely on school lunch programs to provide their children with what may be their only balanced meal of their day. The healthfulness of school lunch has been called into question in recent years, and the Obama administration has sought to implement new standards to increase the nutritional value of lunches provided by schools. Years pass and food trends change, but the challenge of nourishing our country's youth remains.

Bremner, Robert H. Children and Youth in America: A Documentary History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1970. Print.

Gunderson, Gordon W. "National School Lunch Program." United States Department of Agriculture: Food and Nutrition Services. Whitehouse.gov, 17 June 2014. Web. 28 Sept. 2014.

Jakle, John A., and Keith A. Sculle. Fast Food: Roadside Restaurants in the Automobile Age. Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins UP, 1999. Print.

Smith, Andrew F. The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2007. Print.
Tori Avey is a food writer, recipe developer, and the creator of ToriAvey.com. She explores the story behind the food – why we eat what we eat, how the foods of different cultures have evolved, and how yesterday's food can inspire us in the kitchen today. Tori's food writing and photography have appeared on the websites of CNN, Bon Appetit, Zabar's, Williams-Sonoma, Yahoo Shine, LA Weekly and The Huffington Post. Follow Tori on Facebook: Tori Avey, Twitter: @toriavey, or Google+.

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The History of School Lunch | The History Kitchen | PBS Food

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School lunch has evolved quite a bit over the last century. Serving a standard lunch to school children started, in both Europe and the United States, with private organizations who were interested in child welfare. It was not a nationwide event, but rather something that took place in individual states and cities over an extended period of time.

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School lunch programs were deemed the "perfect solution" to child malnutrition and hunger after the Great Depression (Rude, 2016). The federal government started supporting school meal programs and by 1941, these programs were operating in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. A count of 64,298 individuals were serving over 2 million lunches daily. However, with the onset of World War II, food supplies reduced and labor became scarce. As a result, the number of school meals served declined dramatically (Rude, 2016).

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An Abbreviated History of School Lunch in America

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Around the beginning of the 20th century, experts recognized that feeding students could be a crucial part of education reform

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In 1946, President Harry S. Truman signed the National School Lunch Act. Written by Senator Richard B. Russell Jr., the act stated: “It is hereby declared to be the policy of Congress, as a measure of national security, to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation’s children and to encourage the domestic consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities and other food, by assisting the States, through grants-in aid and other means, in providing an adequate supply of food and other facilities for the establishment, maintenance, operation and expansion of nonprofit school lunch programs."
-Section 2 of the National School Lunch Act, 1946 ("A History of School Lunch," 2019). The Act came in response to claims that many American men had been rejected for military service in World War II due to diet-related health problems ("History of School Lunch, n.d.).

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The National School Lunch Program is a "federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions." This was the permanent federal support established under the National School Lunch Act of 1946. Children were served with nutritionally balanced, low-cost or no-cost lunches every day. In its first year, the NSLP served about 7.1 million children. The program grew each year and by 2016, 30.4 million children were participating (“National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Fact Sheet,” 2019). Ever since the school lunch program started in 1946, school lunch has been protected by the United States Department of Agriculture, which determines the menus of school lunches (“A History of School Lunch,” 2019).

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National School Lunch Program (NSLP) | Feeding America

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The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides free or reduced lunches to children in need. Learn how it works to end hunger.

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The lunch programs continued to expand to be able to feed more children. Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon both increased the budgets for school lunch programs. The Child Nutrition Act of 1966 added more subsidies for children from low-income households. It also provided school milk and school breakfast programs (Rude, 2016). Local school districts are still required to financially cover the costs of preparing, storing and distributing free meals. The federal government subsidy only pays for the food ("A History of School Lunch," 2019).

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Late 20th Century: The State Level in California

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Late 20th Century: The State Level in California

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At the state level in California, the concept of cafeteria-style restaurants developed with an adopted model of food service. Schools liked this model. Food such as spaghetti, boiled vegetables, hamburgers, French fries, and Jell-O was served (“A History of School Lunch,” 2019). The State Meal Program is a child nutrition program funded by the state of California. Money is provided to public school districts for serving "free or reduced-priced nutritious meals to needy children in compliance with the state law" (“State Meal Program,” 2021).

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Program Information

What is the State Meal Program?

The State Meal Program is a child nutrition program funded by the State of California. The program provides money to public school districts and county superintendents of schools that serve free or reduced-price nutritious meals to needy children in compliance with state law. The Program is administered by the California Department of Education (CDE), Nutrition Services Division.

Why is there a State Meal Program?

California Education Code Section 49550 (which resulted from the enactment of Senate Bill 120, Chapter 1277/1975, Child Nutrition Facilities Act of 1975) requires all public school districts and county superintendents of schools to make available, free or reduced-price, one nutritionally adequate meal to each needy student every school day. A needy student is one who qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, according to specified family size and income standards. This requirement is commonly referred to as the "state meal mandate."

Senate Bill 120 also established the State Meal Program to provide schools with financial support to help defray the cost of providing these meals. It should be noted that, although all public schools are required to comply with the state meal mandate, receipt of state funding is optional.

What is a nutritionally adequate meal?

A nutritionally adequate meal is one that qualifies for reimbursement under federal child nutrition program regulations. Please see our School Menu Planning Options page for meal pattern information.

What are school districts and county superintendents of schools required to do?

Free or reduced-price nutritionally adequate meals must be made available to those children who qualify for such benefits. These meals must be made available in such a way that it is not readily apparent that children are receiving free or reduced-price meals. Records must be kept to document that nutritionally adequate meals are made available to the needy students. These records include:

Applications submitted by families for free and reduced price meals, by school.

The number of meals served each day, by school and by category (free and reduced-price).

Meal production records and inventory records that document the amounts and types of food used.

Records of income, expenditures, and contributions received.

How can school districts and county superintendents of schools get paid for providing nutritionally adequate meals?

As previously stated, all school districts and county superintendents of schools must comply with the state meal mandate. Reimbursement for providing nutritionally adequate meals may be obtained through either the National School Lunch Program or the State Meal Program. Participation in either program is optional.

In order to be reimbursed under the National School Lunch Program, a school must make nutritionally adequate meals available to all students (not just to needy students).

Schools choosing to make nutritionally adequate meals available only to needy students may participate in and be reimbursed under the State Meal Program. (Please note that reimbursement is substantially higher under the National School Lunch Program.) Please see our Rates, Eligibility Scales, and Funding page for the current rates.

At the end of the school year, school districts and county superintendents of schools that participate in the State Meal Program submit a reimbursement claim form, available on the CDE fiscal Nutrition Services-School Nutrition Program Web page, to the CDE. After the Department reviews the form, the claim is sent to the State Controller's Office, where the check is issued. Agencies typically receive reimbursement within four to six weeks after submitting the reimbursement claim form.

What type of assistance is available?

Nutritionists and program staff from the CDE are available to provide technical assistance and guidance on how to comply with the state meal mandate and how to obtain reimbursement through the State Meal Program. Assistance is available on such topics as menu planning, proper food storage and preparation, record keeping and reporting, and clarifying federal and state regulations.

Whom do we contact?

If you have any questions regarding this subject, please contact your School Nutrition Programs (SNP) County Specialist. The SNP County Specialist list is available in the Download Forms section of the Child Nutrition Information and Payment System, Form ID Caseload. You can also contact the SNP Office Technician (OT), by phone at 916-322-1450 to be directed to your SNP County Specialist.

Questions: School Nutrition Programs Unit | 800-952-5609

Last Reviewed: Friday, April 2, 2021

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The State Meal Program is a child nutrition program funded by the State of California. The program provides money to public school districts and county superintendents of schools that serve free or reduced-price nutritious meals to needy children in compliance with state law. The Program is administered by the California Department of Education (CDE), Nutrition Services Division.

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During the 1980s, the federal government determined a needed change in federally subsidized public programs. The Reagan administration tried to cut federal funding for school lunch programs. They declared that ketchup was a vegetable in order to restrict the cost of school lunch. The public did not want this change in school lunch programs, and the resistance was strong. (“A History of School Lunch,” 2019). With this cut of $1.5 billion by the Reagan administration, school lunches became privatized, and nutrition standards lowered. This resulted in exponential growth in childhood obesity rates in the United States (Rude, 2016). The repercussions of funding cuts became a national problem to address.

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Originally, school lunch programs were handled by private organizations who were interested in local child welfare, but there was no nationwide program for school lunch. The very first school lunch program was instigated in one school in 1894 Philadelphia where students paid one cent for lunch. The program worked out well, eventually a committee was established, and eight additional schools were added to the penny lunch program.

In Boston, the Women's Educational and Industrial Union started serving hot lunches to high schools students. A main kitchen was organized to make school lunches which were then transported to the participating schools.

In rural schools some teachers utilized the stoves that heated the classrooms to heat soup for school lunch. Parent-Teacher Associations realized the importance of school lunches and began donating funds, pots and pans and food for schools in their areas.

In 1920 Home Economics classes in Boston began an experiment program of serving lunch to elementary school students three days a week. There were no lunchrooms or cafeterias in the schools, so students simply ate at their desks. Other cities in the nation began following this impromptu school lunch program throughout the early part of the 20 th century.

The school lunch programs did not take off as was hoped and there was no government - state or federal - legislation that guaranteed the continuing success of school lunch. School boards were reluctant to take on the program because kitchen equipment was expensive and adding a kitchen area to schools meant extensive remodeling.

Then, in 1946 the school lunch program was made official when President Harry S. Truman signed the National School Lunch Act. The act, written by Senator Richard B. Russell Jr said, "It is hereby declared to be the policy of Congress, as a measure of national , to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation's children and to encourage the domestic consumption of agricultural commodities and other food, by assisting the States, through grants-in aid and other means, in providing an adequate supply of food and other facilities for the establishment, , operation and expansion of nonprofit school lunch programs."

- Sec. 2 The National School Lunch Act, 1946

The cafeteria concept was somewhat foreign, and the first budget-friendly cafeteria meal was served in New York's Exchange Buffet, which was founded during the 1880s. Next, William and Samuel Childs opened lunchrooms where patrons pushed their trays along counters and chose what they would like to eat. The concept of cafeteria-style restaurants sped to California, where standard offerings were spaghetti, boiled vegetables, hamburgers, French fries, and Jell-O. Schools liked this cafeteria-style concept, and began adopting this model of food service.

School lunch is something students who go to public or even charter schools experience. You bring your brown bag lunch from home or take a chance on the school's fish sticks, but school lunch is a rite of passage for most Americans students.

Most schools at the time the School Lunch Program was launched did not have full kitchens. The first organized school lunches under the National School Lunch Program turned to large foodservice corporation to prepare and deliver meals. Food delivery meant lunches of pre-packaged and frozen foods.

Frozen and pre-packaged types of food were neither nutritious, tasty, or budget friendly. The Federal government determined that there needed to be a change in federally subsidized public programs and during the 1980s the Reagan Administration tried to cut federal funding for school lunch programs. In their attempt to restrict the cost of school lunch, ketchup was declared a vegetable. The public outcry was loud, and no one wanted a change in school lunch programs.

The school lunch program, along with Social Security, is still one of the most popular government programs available. Since its formal start in 1946 school lunch has been protected by the United States Department of Agriculture, and that department dictates the menus of school lunches.

Reforms and mandates over the years have been enacted to feed low-income children, and these changes have transformed The National School Lunch Program. A federal government subsidy pays only for food, however, not for equipment, storage, labor or delivery. Local school districts must scramble to find enough money to cover the costs of preparing, storing, and distributing free meals

The healthfulness of school lunches has been called into question many times. In the past ten years, the Obama administration sought to implement new standards to increase the nutritional values of school lunches. Regardless, today's school lunches are still not the best tasting, and they don't really fulfill the nutritional needs of countless school children.

Reforms in the National School Lunch Program focus on the menu. However, as history reveals, the Program's school lunch is more than about food on the tray and children's choices in the cafeteria line. The National School Lunch Program has become a political football that still tries to determine what foods will be subsidized and which children deserve free meals.

American Preparatory Academy follows the mandated school lunch programs, but when questioned about school lunch, students at American Prep had nothing but high praise about what they were fed. "It's tasty," stated one West Valley student. Most schools seem to get the idea of school lunch wrong, but there are charter schools who believe that food needs to be nutritional, healthy, and eatable. Food fads will continue to change, but the service of feeding students nutritious school lunch will always remain. believes in this philosophy and they manage their school lunch programs well.

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A History of School Lunch | American Preoaratory Schools

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Originally, school lunch programs were handled by private organizations who were interested in local child welfare, but there was no nationwide program for school lunch. The very first school lunch program was instigated in one school in 1894 Philadelphia where students paid one cent for lunch.

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The healthfulness of school foods had been called into question long enough. In 2010, Congress passed The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act as an attempt to return to the original goals of school lunch programs. This act allows the Department of Agriculture to rebuild school meals to meet nutrition standards. The act has received mixed feedback, but in 2016 it was reported that it does indeed provide kids with healthier food at school (Rude, 2016). The goal is to make sure children are well fed and healthy so they can best learn in school. Even with all the progress made, the challenge of how to best nourish our students still remains. Today, one in seven, or 11 million, children in America live in households that do not have consistent access to adequate food (“More Than Just Lunch,” n.d.).

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Signing the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act

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