Students in this Central Florida school district to receive free meals all year

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Students at Orange County Public Schools will receive free meals all year, district officials said on Monday.

For the 2023-24 school year, the district is providing free school meals at no charge to Orange County students per the community eligibility provision.

“We believe every student deserves access to healthy and nutritious meals regardless of socioeconomic status,” the district said on its website.

To ensure students receive a nutritious meal, school officials said they must select three of the following five food group components offered, which include proteins, grains, vegetables, fruits and milk. For breakfast and lunch, student meals must include a half-cup of fruits or vegetables to be eligible for the offer.

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If three of the five food groups aren’t selected, then students will be charged at the a la carte price.

The availability of free snacks and supper are based on individual school qualifications.

Prices for additional meals are $1.35 for breakfast and $1.90 for lunch in elementary schools and $1.75 for breakfast and $2.75 for lunch in secondary schools.

This comes as the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida said it’s seeing an uptick in food insecurity since the pandemic.

To view the breakfast and lunch menus available at each school in the district, click here. For more information on the program, visit the Orange County Public Schools website.

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