More students qualify for free meals

With the weakened economy, more and more students are qualifying for free or reduced-price meals at school. The Utah County school district is one of several districts in Utah that has reported seeing this type of increase over the past year.

Last year in the Provo School District about 40 percent of the meals served at school were free or at a reduced cost. This year, that number has increased to 43.8 percent.

Provo School District is not the only one seeing this type of increase. Several districts, including Alpine, have seen more applications for the reduced meal program.

Jenilee McComb, the Provo School District child nutrition director, said, "Sometimes it's the only well-balanced meal they'll get, and surprisingly, there are a lot of children in Utah that are hungry and a lot of children in Provo School District that are hungry."

Qualifying for free or reduced-priced school meals is based on household income. Students from families that make less than $27,560 for a family of four can receive free school lunches as well as breakfast. Those who make between $27,000 and $39,000 qualify for reduced-price meals.

"When a child eats school lunch, it doesn't matter if it's free, reduced, or full-pay, for some of those children it really is the only hot meal they will get in a day," McComb said.

Under the National School Lunch Program, reduced-lunch prices are 40 cents for lunch, and 30 cents for breakfast. McComb says if parents are struggling at home to buy food, they may be better off looking into the program.

E-mail: spark@ksl.com

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