From The New York Times Feb 20 2009 in a column by Alice Wat

From The New York Times, Feb 20, 2009, in a column by Alice Waters and Katrina Heron with that headline: How much would it cost to feed 30 million American schoolchildren a wholesome meal? It could he done for about $5 per child, or roughly $27 billion a year, plus a onetime investment in real kitchens. It should be noted that an average school year consists of 180 days. There are three numbers in the paragraph quoted above. Are they reasonable? Are they consistent with each other given the first sentence of this part of the question? Calculate the inflation rate from 2009 to 2012. Round your answer to nearest whole percent, http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation calculator.htm (Include a screenshot of the calculations performed) Accounting for inflation, from 2009 to 2012, how much would the above school lunch program cost in 2012? Round your answer to the nearest billion. How much did the federal government spend on school lunches in 2012? http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/NSLPFactSheet.pdf (See item 9)

Solution

(a). The figures quoted in the paragraph are consistent as the cost of feeding 30 million American children a wholesome meal @ $ 5 per child per meal for 180 days is $ 180*30*5 million i.e. $ 27000 million or, $ 27 billion. In addition, there is a one time investment in real kitchens.

(b) As per the inflation calculator, $ 1 in 2009 had the same purchasing power as $ 1.07 in 2012 ( it is difficult to paste the screenshot here).Thus the inflation rate from 2009 to 2012 is(1.07-1/1)*100 % = 7%

(c) On accounting for inflation, the cost of the lunch program in 2012 is 1.07*$27 billion = $ 28.89 billion, say $ 29 billion ( on rounding off to the nearest whole number).

(d) The National School Lunch Program cost $11.6 billion in FY 2012.

(e) The absolute difference between the actual 2012 Federal expenditure on school lunches and the cost of program described by Waters , in 2012 dollars is $ (28.89-11.6) billion = $ 17.29 billion.