ASFSA asks Agriculture Department to tread carefully on free-lunch issue

Nation's Restaurant News, March 25, 2002

WASHINGTON -- An estimated one-quarter of children now receiving free or reduced-price meals in school may be ineligible because their parents make too much money, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The study, conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, indicated that the number of students receiving price breaks at lunch was about 27 percent higher than the number suggested by census data.

More than 15 million children received free or reduced-price meals in school last year, according to the USDA.

Eric Bost, USDA undersecretary for food and nutrition programs, presented the data to the American School Food Service Association earlier this month at its annual Legislative Action Conference here. Bost called the situation "a problem that demands a solution" and said the USDA was working with the Education Department to correct the problem as efficiently as possible.

Marcia Smith, president of the ASFSA, questioned the accuracy of the data. She noted, for example, that high numbers of transient students in many large urban districts could inflate the number of applications, which wouldn't mean that ineligible students are getting a free lunch.

Smith acknowledged that "it is very likely that there may be children approved who should not be," but she added: "The number of children being served is still less than the potential number who could be served. Over-certification does not mean overconsumption."

She urged Congress to make sure that any solution to the problem that it chooses not hurt eligible children and not add more paperwork to school foodservice personnel, who are often the people who gather the income eligibility forms.

The issue over eligibility has become a matter of concern for a number of reasons. Prime among them is that several states and school districts use the number of children enrolled in the free lunch program as the basis for the distribution of federal money.

In addition, children who benefit from the program also may gain other privileges, such as reduced or waived athletic and activity fees.

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