By Brandon Rotsky, Staff Writer

As the economy suffers, more people are looking to spend only on the necessary items such as food, electricity, and clothes. There is one place where some families are able to save a little: school lunches

In recent years, the number of Beachwood students applying for free or reduced lunches has increased.
Beachwood’s Treasurer, Michelle Mills, noticed the lunch program trend, “Four years ago students never applied, but now the numbers are going up everywhere.”

Despite the fact that school lunch prices have risen in the past year from $2.60 for the special, two sides and a milk, to $2.65, those who are most needy are able to get relief through the National School Lunch Program. The program was enacted in 1946 by President Harry Truman in order to aid families in financial trouble, insuring that poor children would have at least one healthy meal per day.

Children whose families are eligible for the program are able to get a healthy free or reduced-price lunch. Cindy Mathies, the director of the lunch program for Beachwood City Schools, believes the program helps a lot of people. Mathies also added that although the program, “used to be a stigma for students, now it is more confidential.”

In the 2007-2008 school year, 14 high school students applied for free lunches and four students applied for reduced lunches. In the last school year, 23 students applied for free lunches and 10 students for reduced lunches. Cindy Mathies said that it is more frequent to see students in elementary school apply for the program than in any other grade. Last year, Hilltop had 21 students who applied for free lunches and 12 for reduced lunches, even though the school has only three grades.

If the economy continues to suffer, we may expect to see an even greater number of students apply for this program in years to come.