Rising food costs have hit stores, restaurants, households—and schools, too
Doug Hoke—USA TODAY NETWORK/Reutersising food costs have hit stores, restaurants, households—and schools, too. School cafeterias across the country are battling soaring inflation, staffing shortages and supply chain disruptions, forcing many of the nation’s school districts to raise their prices or serve more limited menus as students head back to classrooms this fall.
“I worry about kids going hungry,” says Jennifer Bove, food and nutrition director at East Hampton Public Schools in Connecticut.Almost every food item that Shannon Gleave, director of food and nutrition at the Glendale Elementary School District in Arizona, ordered for the coming school year costs significantly more than it did in 2021. Cans of diced pears cost 24% more than last year; a case of hamburger patties costs 21% more; and a case of cereal is up nearly 9%.
It’s not just food items that are becoming more expensive. Paper products and cleaning supplies have also skyrocketed in cost over the last year. Gleave says the trays used to serve salads are two times more expensive. “There’s a high percentage of poverty in our district, so I don’t know if families will be able to afford price increases,” Gleave says. “But we may not have a choice.”