The Cost of a School Meal: Longitudinal Evidence on Spending, Nutritional Quality, and Economies of Scale from 216 Programs

School meals have proven effective in improving child outcomes, particularly in low-income settings. Yet concerns about funding adequacy and cost efficiency remain. This paper analyzes data from three waves of the Global Child Nutrition Foundation (GCNF) survey (2018–2023), covering 216 programs from 102 countries to document cost patterns and scaling dynamics. Additionally, we examine how cost per child varies with implementation models, sourcing strategies, and targeting approaches. We report five main findings. First, majority of the programs, especially in low-income and large-scale settings, are underfunded relative to the cost of a healthy meal. Second, school meal programs in lower-income countries tend to offer less diverse meals, and adjusting for nutritional diversity reveals that achieving comparable dietary quality would significantly raise their per-child costs. These adjustments are especially relevant for disadvantaged children, who face the greatest risk of nutrient deficiency and would benefit most from more diverse meals. Third, local food sourcing is associated with more cost-efficient implementation—after accounting for dietary diversity—while on-site meal preparation is linked to higher costs among better-resourced programs. Fourth, programs that target recipients individually tend to be cheaper, but only for higher-income countries. Finally, despite offering less diverse meals, programs in lower-income countries exhibit greater economies of scale—expanding coverage faster relative to cost increases.