NYS Ranks 38th in Nation for School Breakfast Participation, Study Finds

NYS Ranks 38th in Nation for School Breakfast Participation, Study Finds

The high cost of low participation means that NYS is losing almost $52 million annually in federal funding. From the Food Research and Action Center:

Participation in School Breakfast Program Should be Higher, FRAC Reports
(FRAC, December 7, 2009)

Across the country, more children could be participating in the federal School Breakfast Program, especially as families struggle with unemployment and other financial difficulties during the recession, according to the School Breakfast Scorecard (pdf) and School Breakfast in America's Big Cities (pdf), two reports published by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) this month. Only 47 children participate in the breakfast program for every 100 receiving free and reduced-price lunch. "The free breakfast program is never more important than it is today due to the effects of the recession," said FRAC president Jim Weill. "Nationally we've seen a real increase in breakfast participation among low income children both because of the recession and because states generally have slowly been increasing breakfast use, but participation is just not growing fast enough. States can do a better job in reaching more children and Congress needs to take steps to make it easier for schools and children to reap the benefits of school breakfast."