More California Students are Eating School Meals than Ever Before

California was the first state to provide free School Meals for All, or universal school meals, guaranteeing access to breakfast and lunch for all TK–12 public school students starting in the 2022–2023 school year. The success of the program has been evident in the millions of additional school meals being served to students. Prior to School Meals for All, nearly half of California’s food-insecure families were left out of the federal free or reduced-price school meals program because federal income guidelines do not account for California’s high cost of living. When California’s School Meals for All policy passed in 2021, the state ensured that no student would go hungry at school after the pandemic-era federal free meals program ended.

Now, three years into California's School Meals for All program, new data reveals that participation in school meals continues to increase with an initial 7% increase in the 2022–23 school year and 1% increase in each subsequent year, a rise of nearly 9% — and 73 million school meals — since the program began. The policy requires that all school districts offer breakfast, ensuring that all students have the opportunity to begin their day with the nourishment they need to learn. As a result, increases in breakfast participation (19%) have been greater than lunch (4%). Increases in school meal participation have occurred despite declining enrollment, which means that a greater proportion of students are consuming school meals.

Participation in California School Meals