School Lunch Program: Cafeteria Managers' Views on Food Wasted by Students.Report to the Chairman, Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities, House of Representatives

摘要

In fiscal year 1995, about 25 million students in about 94,000 schools (publicand private schools and residential child care institutions) nationwide were served lunches each day through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). The program's total federal costs for this period were over $5 billion--about $4.5 billion in cash reimbursements and over $600 million in commodity foods, such as beef patties, flour, and canned vegetables. The schools participating in the program had to offer lunches that included one serving each of milk, meat or a meat alternative (such as peanut butter), and bread or a bread alternatives (such as pasta) and at least two servings of vegetables and/or fruits. Some concerns have been raised about the amount of food provided in the school lunch program that students throw away. This discarded food is commonly referred to as plate waste.