The Price of Lunch in Tampa Schools Going Up
We all know that the basic grocery bill for an American family is rising steadily. We have seen it when we go to the market simply to pick up eggs, milk, and bread. It is astonishing when you shop for a week’s worth of food and the overall rise in food costs hits you in a more concrete way.
Additionally, news headlines have talked about how restaurants are facing the rise of food costs just like the rest of us, which is resulting is higher prices for dining out.
How much thought have you given, though, to the food served in schools?
The Hillsborough County School Board (which includes the schools in Tampa, Florida) voted yesterday for a 50 cent increase in the price of school lunches. Elementary school lunches will go from $1.75 to $2.25. Middle and high school lunches will go from $2.25 to $2.75.
District administrators said their schools spent $1.6 million more on milk and this year, which is a 33 percent increase from last year. Bread cost the district $100,000 more this year than last and most sources say that bread prices are actually going to quadruple in the near future.
Despite moving from serving fresh fruit five days a week to only two days a week (canned and frozen fruits and vegetables fill in one the other days), government subsidies have not kept up with the actual price of food these days. Hillsborough County says it costs about $3 to produce a hot lunch and the federal government only kicks in around 23 cents for each student paying full price for lunch.
2.75 isn’t so bad though.
I bet though they make their money with the snacks and other various things they have besides the regular lunch.