National School Lunch Act

The National School Lunch Act (79 P.L. 396, 60 Stat. 230) is a 1946 United States federal law that created the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to provide low-cost or free school lunch meals to qualified students through subsidies to schools. Prior to the passage of the Act, direct support of school lunches were done on the state level, or it was provided through federal aid that was not specifically designed for school lunches.

The program was established as a way to prop up food prices by absorbing farm surpluses, while at the same time providing food to school-age children. The Act was signed into law by President Harry S. Truman in 1946 and entered the federal government into schools' dietary programs on June 4, 1946. In 1999, the act's name was changed to honor Richard Russell Jr., senator from Georgia, who championed its passage.

Since its passage, it has received many amendments and updates due to price, safety, and health concerns; it has been a subject of heavy debate within academia since the early 2000s, and the debate has continued to evolve as statistical tests and the NSLP have both improved.

The majority of the support provided to schools participating in the program comes in the form of a cash reimbursement for each meal served. Schools are also entitled to receive commodity foods and additional commodities as they are available from surplus agricultural stocks. The National School Lunch Program served nearly 29.4 million students as of the 2023-2024 school year, with 21.1 million receiving free or reduced-price lunches.