USDA’s School Breakfast Program served nearly 65 billion meals from 1975 through 2023

The USDA’s School Breakfast Program has served nearly 65 billion meals since it was permanently authorized as a Child Nutrition Program in 1975. Any student in a participating school can get breakfast through the program. Students can receive a free breakfast if their household’s income is at or below 130 percent of the Federal poverty line, a reduced-price breakfast if their household’s income is 130 to 185 percent of the poverty line, and a full-price breakfast if their household’s income is above 185 percent of the poverty line. The number of breakfasts served increased each year from 1982 through fiscal year (FY) 2016, before plateauing at about 2.4 billion meals from FY 2017 through FY 2019. On average, 85 percent of breakfasts were served for free or at a reduced price each year during this period. The onset of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in March 2020 interrupted school operations, including the provision of meals, and the number of breakfasts served through the School Breakfast Program dropped to about 1.8 billion breakfasts in FY 2020. The decrease reflected the use of USDA pandemic waivers, which allowed schools to serve meals through the Summer Food Service Program (these meals are not shown in the chart). From the end of FY 2021 through FY 2022, schools transitioned to serving meals through the School Breakfast Program’s Seamless Summer Option. In total, the School Breakfast Program provided 2.5 billion breakfasts in FY 2022 and about 2.4 billion breakfasts in FY 2023, similar to prepandemic years. The data for this chart are from the USDA, Economic Research Service’s School Breakfast Program topic page.