Participation in USDA's School Breakfast Program up 5 percent in FY 2012

USDA’s School Breakfast Program (SBP) provides low-cost breakfasts to school children, with students from low-income families receiving free or reduced-price meals. In fiscal year 2012 (Oct. 1-Sept. 30), 12.8 million children participated in the program on a typical school day, or 5 percent more than the previous fiscal year. SBP spending totaled $3.3 billion in FY 2012—an-8-percent increase over fiscal 2011 spending. Over the last decade, as more schools have offered the program, participation in the SBP has grown by 53 percent, from 8.4 million children in FY 2003 to FY 2012’s level, and expenditures have almost doubled. In FY 2012, 76 percent of all breakfasts served were provided free to students, 8 percent at a reduced price, and 16 percent at full price, similar shares as in 2003. Information on the SBP and USDA’s other food and nutrition assistance programs can be found in The Food Assistance Landscape, FY 2012 Annual Report, released March 2013.

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