Rising lunch prices caused by inflation, CNP says

Photo by Corey Craft

Alabama School of Fine Arts’ Child Nutrition Program (CNP) has been struggling with rising prices since the end of last school year due to supply chain issues and environmental factors. Lunches cost $5 when last year they were free, and dinners are an astounding $8.00.

CNP head Cynthia Orcutt says that the problem begins with inflation and the supply chain. “Food’s going up. Just like the food you see in the grocery store, my prices are going up.” The problem extends to a national level, disrupting food production across the US.

CNP faces another barrier, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) restrictions on what school cafeterias must serve. “We’re trying to menu around the more expensive items,” Orcutt says, “But the problem becomes what the USDA requires I serve.” For instance, she says “The company that provides our milk is going out of business, but USDA says I have to offer milk.”

Massive crop failures have been common this year, particularly with lettuce and wheat. According to an article from NPR, drought in the American midwest, global fertilizer shortages, and war disrupting Ukrainian exports is causing America’s agricultural industry extreme disruption. “I’ve worked in Child Nutrition for maybe 10 years, and I’ve never heard of such a thing… not the number of crops and not to the extent that we’re seeing this year,” says Orcutt.

The CNP are working with faculty to try and solve the problem. There are still some ways that they can cut back on the prices, such as having a cycle menu that’s only 2 weeks instead of 4 weeks or cutting back on the amount of food that students can take. “But we really don’t want to do that,” Orcutt says. “I’m working with other schools in our area and the state department to try and find better solutions.”

But even then, the future is uncertain. “I… I don’t know. I have a fear that [prices] are going to rise. There are still areas where we can cut back to stop them going up in the school, but the school can only support us for so long before inflation kicks in.”