Did you know that 90% of 8th graders surveyed at Brooklawn Middle School felt that the school lunches were overpriced? In fact, it isn’t just the kids at Brooklawn who feel this way, it’s a nationwide problem. Research shows that school lunch prices nationwide are skyrocketing due to inflation, these high lunch prices could potentially lead to hungry students, and some districts are struggling to provide hot meals for kids. Students should care about the rising lunch prices because the kids pay more for their meals when they could be spending their money on other things. As a result of inflation, students are paying more for their lunches. 

The question being investigated is why are school lunches so expensive. My hypothesis reads that school lunches will be relatively inexpensive. The school lunches were shockingly more expensive than I thought. For example, a slice of pizza costs 4.00 dollars in school, and in comparison to the Costco 18-inch whole pizza which only costs 9.95; 4 pieces of mozzarella sticks cost 4.00 at school and a 5-pound box of Petite Cuisine Mozzarella Sticks at Costco sells for $14.99; a bottle of water cost 1.75 at school and at the stores you can get a case of water for under 5 dollars; and an order of fries cost 2.60 at school, and in Costco you can get a 5lb fries for under 7 dollars.  At first glance, it seems like school lunches are scamming students, but there’s more than just that.

School lunches are overpriced and are getting even more expensive. Inflation is causing school lunches to get even more expensive, according to the article, “School Meal Prices Are Rising—And That Could Leave Kids Hungry,” it states, “the cost for lunch may be close to $5 a day in some districts, or $900 over an entire school year, nearly twice as much as it cost in 2017” (Popli 1). This evidence proves that inflation is causing lunch prices to rise.  Our current school lunch costs about 4.00  for a slice of pizza and 4.00 for 4 pieces of Mozzarella sticks, this was way cheaper before COVID-19. Also,  a trip to Costco shows, “at the Costco food court, the price for an 18-inch whole pizza is $ 9.95, which is only 5 dollar difference, this means if the student gets a second lunch, they are paying as much as a whole pizza,” (Costco). Some students might get snacks to go with the lunch which only makes the meal more expensive.  In addition, our problem is not only inflation, it’s also hard to get the food that the students like, in the article, “School Meal Prices Are Rising—And That Could Leave Kids Hungry” shows that, “Getting the items that students really like has been challenging,” says Gleave, whose district welcomed students back to school on Aug. 8. “We have 10 to 15 items being substituted every week”  (Popli 1). Readers learn that, students are overpaying for lunches and they don't even like them. Students can also bring in their own lunch or buy less food when getting lunch.

In conclusion, school lunches are skyrocketing due to inflation, and it’s not just Brooklawn Middle School that’s having this problem, schools nationwide are all facing this problem, if this problem continues some students might be facing the risk of going hungry. Students should bring in their own lunch to avoid the high cost of eating at school. 

Works Cited

Time Magazine. 15 Aug. 2022, time.com/6205868/school-meal-prices-rising-inflation/. Accessed 12 Jan. 2024.