{"id":"national-school-lunch-program","name":"National School Lunch Program","provider":"USDA Food and Nutrition Service","entitlement_type":"government-benefit","entitlement_type_label":"Government benefit","entitlement_type_context":{"definition":"A government-funded or administered benefit, service, coverage program, assistance program, or public access route.","domain":"public-benefits","archetype":"direct-program","agent_instruction":"Identify the administering jurisdiction and disclose income, household, age, disability, immigration, residence, renewal, fee, and capacity rules that apply."},"summary":"Participating public schools, nonprofit private schools, and residential child-care institutions provide nutritionally balanced lunches that are free, reduced-price, or subsidized.","benefit":{"description":"Free or reduced-price school lunch for eligible children, and subsidized meals for other students at participating schools.","estimated_value_usd":null},"discovery":{"focus":"public-service","has_estimated_dollar_value":false},"access":{"relationships":["Student at a participating school or institution"],"requirements":"The school must participate. Free and reduced-price eligibility can be based on household income, direct certification, categorical eligibility, or a schoolwide provision; rules and application timing are administered locally.","activation":"Ask the school or district whether it participates and submit its household application unless the student is directly certified or the school serves meals at no charge to all students.","cost_basis":"varies","cost_basis_label":"Variable by provider or eligibility","cost_basis_context":{"classification":"variable","definition":"The user's out-of-pocket cost cannot be represented by one fixed amount because it depends on provider policy, income, household, geography, selected service, coverage group, subsidy amount, or the underlying program. It may be free, reduced, sliding-scale, or partly paid.","agent_instruction":"Read and disclose the record's fees and requirements; use the most precise bounded price or variation reason available instead of repeating only that cost varies.","variation_patterns":["bounded price range","provider-set price","income-based sliding scale","coverage or service-dependent cost sharing","partial subsidy","directory of programs with different terms"],"does_not_mean":["universally free","cost information was necessarily omitted"]},"fees":"Eligible students receive free or reduced-price lunch; other students may pay the school's meal price.","personalized":false,"regions":["US","Participating schools and institutions"],"expires":null},"status":"verified","last_checked":"2026-08-04","claim_url":"https://www.fns.usda.gov/schoolmeals","source_url":"https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp","source":{"primary_url":"https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp","evidence":[{"source":"USDA Food and Nutrition Service","url":"https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp","kind":"provider","checked_at":"2026-08-04"}]},"parent":null,"coverage":{"level":"national","family":"food-and-nutrition","jurisdiction":"United States","maturity":"direct"},"web_url":"/benefits/national-school-lunch-program","taxonomy":{"version":"1.0","url":"/api/v1/taxonomy"}}