Among the measures being considered are adding more beans, serving milk from paper cartons instead of plastic bottles and using canned fruits instead of fresh ones.
But some school cafeterias would have to adapt more stringent measures such as raising prices, tapping into their savings or laying off personnel to make up for the double-digit inflation for certain food products such as fruit, dairy and wheat.
Melanie Konarik, director of child nutrition for the Spring school district, told the Houston Chronicle this year's food price hike would probably be the highest.
Meanwhile, in Geneva, Switzerland, UN officials pointed to market speculation as the main reason behind the recent jump in prices of food. Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environment Program, told the Associated Press, "We have enough food on this planet today to feed everyone," adding that perceptions of future markets distorts access to food.
