Summary: Under the National School Lunch Program, local school districts receive federal funds for lunches that meet the program's requirements for nutritious, well-balanced meals. Although these school districts have traditionally run their own school meals programs, several have contracted with private food service management companies to plan, prepare, and serve school meals. Also, some school districts have purchased brand-name fast foods to serve as part of their school meals or as a la carte items. This report (1) discusses the extent to which food authorities use food service companies to operate their school lunch program and the impact that the use of food service companies has had on the National School Lunch Program; (2) describes the terms and the conditions in the contracts between food authorities and food service companies; (3) discusses the extent to which fast foods and snack foods in vending machines are available in participating schools; and (4) describes the types, the brands, and the nutritional content of the fast foods most commonly offered.
