School meals : more than just a free lunch

WFP provides school meals to an average of 22 million children each year in 60 countries. Why? Because providing a nutritious meal to children in school is one of the best ways of breaking the cycle of hunger that traps nearly a billion people globally. Here are four things that make school meals such a powerful tool:

1. Incredibly cost-effective

In regions that suffer from hunger, school meals play a vital role in breaking the hunger-poverty cycle. Children only get meals if they go to school regularly. In many programs, attendance also earns a take-home ration that will help sustain the child’s family as well. Just US$5 will provide one month of school meals for a child.

2. Gets poor kids into school

Education takes a very low priority when a family is hungry. Poor households are often obliged to choose between sending the kids to school or to work in fields, streets, factories or sweatshops. With school meals, parents do not have to make that choice. School becomes the best option for securing food. This also helps gender equality in cultures that do not typically educate girls since parents are eager for their girls to attend school for the food benefits.

3. Breaks the cycle of poverty

When children are forced to work, they grow up without an education or proper nutrition, thus increasing the likelihood that they will remain poor and have to keep their children home from school as well. This is how poverty perpetuates itself. School meals break this cycle by giving both kids and parents a chance to focus beyond the next meal and achieve their potential.

4. Creates a sustainable solution

Whenever possible, the food used in these programs is bought locally, helping to boost the local economy. Once a program is running smoothly, our aim is to hand over the program and let it be run locally. In fact, over the past 45 years, WFP has handed over school meal programs to 42 countries where the programs continue to thrive.