Vilsack: Increased efforts, economy drive lunch program rise
School District Poverty Comparison for Rural Communities FY2010
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has told The Hagstrom Report that the rise in the number of children receiving free and reduced price school meals is due to a combination of efforts to register the children for those meals and the increased number of children who are eligible because their parents have experienced unemployment or a loss of income.
Earlier this year, Vilsack, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan and Agriculture Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon had all expressed concerns that the increase in applications for free and reduced price school meals was not keeping up with the increase in food stamps.
But a New York Times analysis released Wednesday showed that the number of students receiving subsidized lunches rose to 21 million last year from 18 million in 2007, a 17 percent increase.
Eleven states, including Florida, Nevada, New Jersey and Tennessee, had increases of 25 percent or more, the Times said.
Reacting to the Times story, Vilsack said that making the children aware of their eligibility and getting them to fill out the paper work required has been a challenge, because the children must take paper work home and get their parents to fill out the income data and bring it back to school.
Vilsack said that his own sons had been quite responsible in their youth, but in primary school could not be counted on to give their parents paper work sent home from school, and that he and his wife had had to go through backpacks to find notes from the school.
The Times story noted that the number of school districts using matching student enrollment lists against the records of local food stamp agencies to identify those who are eligible has grown.
Vilsack also noted that a map of school districts by county shows that the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced price meals is much higher in the southern states.
