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The sour economy has forced more Florida students to turn to the National School Lunch Program for a free meal.

68,000 more students are using the free lunch program this year than just a year ago, bringing the total number of kids enrolled up to 1,137,000. The federal government reimburses schools for the free meals. Department of Education Spokesman Tom Butler says the program may be more important now than ever before.

“In a time like this, a lot of students, actually, this will be the only meal that they will get, along with maybe just a school breakfast. So, it’s really important that they continue to receive school lunches,” said Butler.

Schools aren’t the only places where the meals are served. During school breaks, boys and girls clubs serve the meals.