For Immediate Release:
July 25, 2023

COMMISSIONER MILLER REMINDS PARENTS IT’S TIME TO APPLY FOR FREE AND REDUCED-PRICE SCHOOL MEALS

Texas school nutrition teams are now accepting the household applications required to determine eligibility for free and reduced-price school meals.

AUSTIN – Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is encouraging parents and caregivers to contact their students’ schools to request an application for free and reduced-price meals. The completed application should be returned to the school office or submitted online if available electronically. Students need an approved application before they can receive free or reduced-price meals. The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) administers the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs in Texas and works to ensure all Texas children can get good nutrition at school.

“Children will go back to school before you know it and this year families have a new reason to get the application for free and reduced-price meals submitted as soon as possible,” said Commissioner Miller. “The budget approved by the 88th Texas Legislature includes funding that lets students who are approved to get reduced-price meals get breakfast free. TDA and schools are working now to get the word out about this great new resource. Submitting the application for free and reduced-price meals early will help schools prepare to implement this new benefit and provide healthy, balanced meals to more students.”

Schools will use the application to determine a child’s eligibility for free and reduced-price meals based on income, participation in other federal nutrition assistance programs, and status as a foster child, homeless, runaway, migrant, or displaced by a declared disaster. Only one application needs to be completed per household. The school will notify families of their eligibility once the application is processed.

Students at campuses that participate in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) are not required to submit a household application. Students at CEP campuses eat at no cost to them.

School nutrition teams across Texas are prepared to assist eligible students access free or reduced-price meals. TDA encourages families to contact their school nutrition department for details and answers to questions they have about school nutrition in 2023-2024.

For more information, visit SquareMeals.org.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Contact: Reb Wayne
(512) 475-1669

More TDA press releases are available at TexasAgriculture.gov/Newsroom.