More families are applying for free- and reduced-price lunches as federal officials cite the country’s highest rate of “food insecurity” since 1995.

A sampling of Valley school districts shows more participation in the National School Lunch Program, which serves 31 million children in 100,000 schools nationwide. Applications in Milton Area School District began to rise toward the end of last school year, “which is unusual,” said Sharon Adami, school foods director.

“That signifies that people had a change in status,” she said.

More than half of Milton’s 2,265 students benefit from the program.

That’s an increase of about 5 percent over last year.

Families can apply for the program throughout the school year. “Some are close (to meeting the guidelines) and don’t make it. The guidelines do change every year. We encourage them to apply again,” Adami said.

$300 savings

In Milton, the free lunch program saves parents of an elementary school student about $300 per year. That’s 182 lunches. The discount program cuts a lunch price from $1.50 to 40 cents.

A new report out this week from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows 17 million households —14.6 percent — had trouble putting food on the table last year. That number is the highest since federal officials began surveying food “security” in 1995.

The report shows that one or more children don’t get enough to eat in more than 500,000 families. Families have had to cut the size of meals, skip meals or go more than a day without food.

The Obama Administration’s 2010 budget includes $10 billion in new spending on federal Child Nutrition Programs — including school lunches — over the next 10 years.

About 27 percent of Selinsgrove’s 2,658 students receive free or discounted lunches. For high schoolers, that saves $1.90 per day or $332 per year — “plus the benefit of having a hot meal most days,” said Kevin J. Oswald, director of food service.

Federal officials say school lunch and breakfast programs provide the only healthy food that some children eat all day.