Evaluating the Success of the School Commodity Food Program

provided by Research Papers in Economics

3rd Quarter 2009 | 24(3)

Evaluating the Success of the School Commodity Food Program

Cora Peterson

Since its origin in the middle of the 20^th century, the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) has provided a
direct policy link between agriculture and child nutrition through its allocation of commodity foods as in-kind
benefits to schools. When nutrient deficiency was the primary concern for children’s health, the school
commodity program provided a convenient policy solution for lawmakers, for it simultaneously supported
agricultural producers through consolidated purchases and assisted schools to provide meals to students.

While the broad objectives of federal agriculture policy—to support market growth and stable prices—have
remained relatively constant over the past half century, the objectives for children’s health policy have been
significantly redirected because of new concerns about nutrition and obesity. School operational capabilities
have also changed substantially since the NSLP’s first years. Despite these changes, little research has been
conducted to examine whether the link between agriculture and health within the school commodity program
continues to offer benefits for its intended beneficiaries.

This article reviews the school commodity program’s original policy objectives in light of current information
about the program’s impact on schools, child nutrition, and the agricultural sector.

School Commodity Program History

The school commodity program began as an agriculture initiative to provide an outlet for excess production
by American farmers. In the debates leading up to the 1946 passage of the National School Lunch Act,
policymakers from the Agriculture Committee in the House of Representatives expressed hope that a
federally funded lunch program would create new and lasting demand for American agriculture.

This concept is known as additionality, which in this case means the amount by which a dollar of government
program spending results in additional food consumption. Lawmakers assumed that donations of surplus
foods would also provide a financial and nutritional benefit to schools and students.

In 1973 the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) informed Congress that it could not continue to
guarantee sufficient levels of school commodities because market conditions—which had changed
substantially from the time of the first federal commodity donations to schools during the Depression era—
dictated the department’s annual commodity acquisitions (United States Congress, 1994a). As a result, in
1974 Congress amended the National School Lunch Act to require the USDA to use NSLP funds to purchase
commodities to “maintain the annual programmed level of assistance for schools” (United States Congress,
1994a).

This legislation marked a permanent shift in the philosophy of school commodity foods. The USDA had
previously channelled foods to schools from its existing stocks that accumulated as a result of surplus
removal programs; now the USDA was instructed by Congress to purchase products on behalf of schools to
maintain an annual level of commodity assistance. In 1994, the role of “entitlement” commodities in the NSLP
was enhanced when Congress amended the National School Lunch Act to require that no less than 12% of
total assistance for the NSLP be dispensed to state agencies as commodity foods (Richard B. Russell

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