School Food: 1980s Budget Cuts

The federal budget cuts of the 1980s had the single greatest impact on the availability and quality of school meals since the program’s inception in 1946. Under pressure from the Reagan administration to cut costs, the USDA proposed abandoning the meal program goal of providing one-third of the recommended calories and nutrients. In the face of studies showing that low-income children depended on the school lunch for up to one-half of their daily nutrition, the proposal reduced serving sizes and nutrients, to supply, at most, 18 percent of a child’s daily required calories. Thiamin, vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium and iron—all necessary for normal physical and cognitive development—would fall below one-third of the daily recommendations.