History
The National School Lunch Program has a long history. The idea of having a program for students who cannot pay for lunch began in Europe in as early as 1790. The program originated as the “Poor People’s Institute, involving a program under which poor, unemployed adults were required to work for clothing and food by making clothing for the army. The children were also required to work part time in the forenoon and afternoon,” (NSLP, 2016). The students were also taught “reading, writing, and arithmetic” during breaks in their work (NSLP, 2016). This idea extended across Europe, under many different names and different programs, but all of them had the same idea: to provide lunch at a free or reduced price for workers and students.
Eventually, this idea spread to the United States. A book titled, Poverty, by Robert Hunter, introduced the importance of feeding starving children to the United States because he wrote about how “learning is difficult because hungry stomachs and languid bodies and thin blood are not able to feed the brain,” (NSLP, 2016). Many new programs were started to help people who could not afford to pay for their food at school in the early 1900's, including the Department of High School Lunches at the William Penn High School for Girls in Philadelphia, a program in Boston where the Home Economics classes prepared lunches for these students, a program in Chicago where the Board of Education gave money to help feed students who could not afford it, and many more programs around the country (NSLP, 2016). In 1937, “15 states had passed laws specifically authorizing local school boards to operate lunchrooms" (NSLP, 2016). This allowed the schools to provide reduced price or free lunches for students in need.
Federal aid from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for school lunches started to be given in 1932. Throughout the Depression in the 1930’s, this Federal assistance was vital for everyone’s health, because with many parents becoming unemployed, it was difficult to get their children food. Then, the Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation was created in 1933 to distribute extra food to needy people. (NSLP, 2016) This program grew quickly, and served many students and people in need. The W.P.A. made “the preparation and serving of school lunches… a very ready area of employment” for women to be assigned to work in (NSLP, 2016). The National Youth Administration was founded in 1935 to train “unemployed youth” and [provide] part-time work for needy students”(NSLP, 2016). World War II also greatly limited the resources available for needy people to get lunches.
In 1946, the 79th Congress introduced the idea of a “school lunch program, rather than operating it on a year-to-year basis” (NSLP, 2016) and the National School Lunch Act was finally approved. In 1962, some amendments were added to the NSLP, and a National School Lunch Week was created. In 1966, the Child Nutrition Act was created to ensure that the food fed to children through the program is nutritious so that it can meet the needs of the children (NSLP, 2016). The program is continuing to grow and expand in order to meet the needs of students, even today.
Eventually, this idea spread to the United States. A book titled, Poverty, by Robert Hunter, introduced the importance of feeding starving children to the United States because he wrote about how “learning is difficult because hungry stomachs and languid bodies and thin blood are not able to feed the brain,” (NSLP, 2016). Many new programs were started to help people who could not afford to pay for their food at school in the early 1900's, including the Department of High School Lunches at the William Penn High School for Girls in Philadelphia, a program in Boston where the Home Economics classes prepared lunches for these students, a program in Chicago where the Board of Education gave money to help feed students who could not afford it, and many more programs around the country (NSLP, 2016). In 1937, “15 states had passed laws specifically authorizing local school boards to operate lunchrooms" (NSLP, 2016). This allowed the schools to provide reduced price or free lunches for students in need.
Federal aid from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for school lunches started to be given in 1932. Throughout the Depression in the 1930’s, this Federal assistance was vital for everyone’s health, because with many parents becoming unemployed, it was difficult to get their children food. Then, the Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation was created in 1933 to distribute extra food to needy people. (NSLP, 2016) This program grew quickly, and served many students and people in need. The W.P.A. made “the preparation and serving of school lunches… a very ready area of employment” for women to be assigned to work in (NSLP, 2016). The National Youth Administration was founded in 1935 to train “unemployed youth” and [provide] part-time work for needy students”(NSLP, 2016). World War II also greatly limited the resources available for needy people to get lunches.
In 1946, the 79th Congress introduced the idea of a “school lunch program, rather than operating it on a year-to-year basis” (NSLP, 2016) and the National School Lunch Act was finally approved. In 1962, some amendments were added to the NSLP, and a National School Lunch Week was created. In 1966, the Child Nutrition Act was created to ensure that the food fed to children through the program is nutritious so that it can meet the needs of the children (NSLP, 2016). The program is continuing to grow and expand in order to meet the needs of students, even today.