School lunch is going up

Missouri’s children might have to pay a little more for their lunches this school year. But the meals are still a bargain.

Schools buy most of their food locally or within their area and have to deal with rising prices. Most school lunches cost about a dollar-and-a-half or a dollar-75, maybe a little more.

The director of school food services for the state education department, Karen Wooton, says change could be coming to the food line in school cafeterias this fall. She says school districts are starting to increase their breakfast and lunch prices for the first time in a long time. Wooton thinks most will increase prices by a dime or two.

She also says school chefs might try to cook more food from scratch to help save money—although many students are accustomed to eating pre-packaged foods, even at home.

Wooton says school districts to have to follow a certain meal pattern that school districts have to follow, and school lunch programs have to meet certain nutritional guidelines…as they feed about 600-thousand students every school day.