Indiana school lunches get healthier, more costly - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

School lunch prices are on the way up at school districts across Indiana, and around the country.

The move could cost your family over $100 a year in addition to what you're already paying, but school food is also getting healthier, with an emphasis on freshness.

It's all part of mandated changes by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that took effect in July.

The USDA is requiring school districts to charge more, as part of the Equity in School Lunch Pricing Program.

"Their goal is to make it so school districts charge a paid student the amount that the government is paying for a free student. They want those amounts to be closer together," explained Kim Combs, Food Service Director at Clark-Pleasant Schools in Greenwood.

The USDA says within the next five years, most schools must raise prices to $2.50 for elementary students and $2.75 for high school students.

Clark-Pleasant is phasing in the increase.

Lunch went up ten cents to $2.20 at the elementary level this year. While that may not sound like much, if you have two kids that's an extra $36 for the school year.

Plus, prices will have to go up again to meet the government's goals.

"It gets expensive," said parent Christy Baught. "It's gonna add up a lot."

"I have two [kids] so it's double. It does add up a lot," added parent Marcia Hobbs.

"It was a hard decision, but it was a necessary decision so that we can run the program the way it needs to be run so we can meet the regulations so that we can give them the best $2.20 meal we can give them with as much, packed with as much nutrition we can put on the plate," Combs said.

But it's not just the prices that are changing. You'll also notice different foods on your child's plate. Schools are adding more colorful and more nutritious choices.

Fresh foods are more expensive for schools than canned or frozen foods.

Carrots, cantaloupe, even kiwi are all color-coded for kids in the lunch line at Whiteland Elementary, to meet the new "My Plate" requirements, also newly-mandated by the USDA.

My Plate replaces the old food guide pyramid.

"We have coordinated with the my plate diagram and used the same colors to identify on our serving line what component that is, so the fruits are red like on my plate and vegetables are green on my plate, so that'll help draw that together for the kids," Combs explained.

Parents say they like the better options.

"It makes me feel a lot better if they do have to eat at the school that they're going to get something that's fairly healthy," Hobbs said.

"It's just not the same chicken sticks and ravioli," Baught added.

It's a new way to keep your kids healthy, but also pricier per plate.

School leaders acknowledge family budgets, like school budgets, are tight.

They stress there's no shame in signing up for a free or reduced lunch program to help out your financial situation.

In fact, most schools don't even use cash in the lunch line. It's often a computerized system - so your child, and their friends, will never know if they're getting lunch for free or paying for it.