For MASSPTA

High food costs hit school lunch trays

The minimum average cost to prepare and serve a school lunch was $2.66 during the 2007-08 school year:

- Food costs: $1.15

- Non-food costs: 14 cents

- Labor costs: $1.26

- Indirect costs: 11 cents

But the federal subsidy to support those meals paid far less:

- For free meals to children from the poorest families, the government paid $2.47 per lunch, up 3 percent.

- For students eligible for reduced-price lunches, the subsidy was $2.07.

- For students who paid full price, the subsidy was 23 cents.