The price for school meals at all Defense Department schools outside the continental United States, including this one in Netzaberg, Germany, will increase by 25 cents next school year. (Army and Air Force Exchange Service)
The cost of school meals at overseas Defense Department schools will rise for the first time in four years, with all paid breakfasts and lunches increasing by 25 cents starting next school year.
The increase will not apply to students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, according to a Wednesday news release from Navy Exchange Service Command, which provides on-base school meals alongside the Army and Air Force Exchange Service.
Beginning with the 2026-27 school year, breakfast for all grade levels will cost $2.25. Lunches will be priced at $3.75 for primary school students and $4 for secondary school students.
The price increase is required for Department of Defense Education Activity to comply with the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, according to a separate news release Wednesday from AAFES.
The law, enacted in 2010, required DODEA schools to gradually raise paid lunch prices to levels comparable with reimbursement rates set by the Department of Agriculture, the release said.
On average, school lunches on DODEA campuses are priced about $2 below the actual cost of each meal, according to AAFES.
Reaction to the announcement focused more on food quality and variety than on the price increase.
“My kids would rather go hungry than buy school lunch most days. It’s not good, especially for the price. The quality isn’t going to go up but the price is,” Natalie Swanigan, a parent at Yokota Air Base, Japan, wrote Thursday in the Facebook group Yokota Community.
Another group commenter, Air Force Capt. Matthew Hughey, said he’s “more interested to see how nutritional value, variety, student satisfaction with DODEA lunches has changed during this inflationary period more than a 6.5% price hike.”
Overseas DODEA meal prices were increased in 2022 by 25 cents.
