Half of Idaho schoolkids now qualify for free or reduced-price lunch

Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — State education officials say one out of every two Idaho students qualified for free and reduced-price lunches in 2011. The Post Register reports ( http://bit.ly/w9ntlt ) that 50 percent of students were eligible to receive subsidized school meals last year. That’s up from 2008, when 37 percent qualified for meals through the federal nutrition program. Idaho’s child nutrition programs director Colleen Fillmore blamed the increase on the recession and the economy’s fragile recovery, saying more families need financial help than in previous years. A spike in Idaho families getting federal help to buy groceries also played a role. Students in families receiving food stamps automatically qualify for the federal lunch program. Food stamp recipients hit a record benchmark in Idaho last year, with 235,000 people receiving the federal aid in November.