Colorado's free school meals program is reshaping lunchrooms in a major way.
The largest gains are showing up in two districts where more students are eating at school even though enrollment hasn't increased.
The shift is giving more students reliable access to breakfast and lunch while forcing schools to rethink storage and food purchasing.
Here's what to know
In Cherry Creek, yearly meal service has jumped from 3.2 million to 6 million. St. Vrain Valley, meanwhile, has been serving about 100,000 additional meals each year since Colorado's Healthy School Meals for All program started in 2023, Denver7 reported.
The increase is not tied to growing enrollment. Instead, Cherry Creek is serving these extra meals while educating fewer students than before, indicating that a bigger share of enrolled children are choosing school food.
More than 60% of St. Vrain students now receive the district's free meals.
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More background
Rising participation is happening at the same time districts are paying more for food. Citing USDA data, Denver7 reported that prices in June 2026 were 3% higher than in June 2025, and the agency expects an overall 3.1% increase.
Schools are trying to protect meal quality while absorbing those costs. Cherry Creek and St. Vrain are reworking the nutrition warehouse space to store additional fresh produce.
What's being done?
To help districts manage rising costs, the two districts, along with more than 100 others, have turned to the Healthy School Meals for All program's new Local Food Program grant.
Cherry Creek School District Food Nutrition Department Director Kim Kilgore said the funding is helping address a real need.
"[It] will help to offset our budget because our reimbursement rates are not covering all of our costs," Kilgore said. "We will be using most of that money on locally grown produce and bakery items."
Cherry Creek received $1 million from the grant. St. Vrain is also using that funding to lower local produce costs, building on work it had already prioritized for years.
The program is making available a separate grant to boost pay for employees who spend most of their time on school meal service or preparation.
St. Vrain Valley Director of Nutrition and Warehouse Katie Cossette said, "St. Vrain has been a local fanatic for a long time. This is a very agricultural rich area, so why not try to incorporate some of our community's growth into our school meals. For us, this is a great opportunity to keep expanding."
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