The Profit Margin of School Lunch

Pinelands cafeteria before the start of school.

Image Credits: Jaedyn Thomson

By Jaedyn Thomson

For the past two years, school lunch has been provided at no cost to students. At the start of this school year, the federal funding that kept our lunch free has now expired. As a result of this, students and staff now have to pay a fee for their lunch, as well as anything they want that is considered “extra” (cookies, chips, soft drinks, etc). The current cost of our school lunch is $2.75. While the price is not very high, how much of the cost is being collected as profit, if any at all?

In an attempt to find this out, I approached Michael Simoncini, Pinelands’ Food Service Director. Though he was short on time, I was able to discover from him that our school is roughly “60,000 dollars in debt”. In the brief conversation I was able to have with him, he noted that since the ending of federal funding for school lunches, our school has been “in the red” as far as debt goes. This, of course, completely debunks the idea that our school is profiting off of the students and staff who purchase lunch.

While it is frustrating to have to spend money on our breakfast and lunches, there really is no “wiggle room” when it comes to pricing. If you are under a certain economic bracket, you’ll be able to apply for free or reduced lunch, but aside from that, anyone who wishes to eat school provided lunch will have to cough up their $2.75!