On any given school day, public schools in America serve lunch to 28.6 million children. 19 million of those lunches are free, while another 1.1 million reduced-price lunches cost just 40 cents. For children from families that can barely put food on the table, free or reduced-price lunches can be a lifeline. Natural gas plays a surprising role in making those lunches (and often breakfasts) possible while still keeping them affordable.

According to P3 Cost Analysts, citing data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the average public school in America spends 67 cents per square foot on electricity and just 19 cents per square foot on natural gas. According to their analysis, space heating, lighting and water heating account for between 74% and 86% of their total energy use.

Natural gas is, on average, the least expensive method of heating space and water. The EIA projects that by at least 2050, natural gas will be one-third to one-half the cost of other fuels, including electricity, which is expected to remain the most expensive option. Today, natural gas is 3.3 times cheaper than electricity, which is about the low end of the EIA’s projection for costs in 2050. The affordability of natural gas compared to electricity has saved commercial and industrial customers (including public schools) more than half a trillion dollars ($500,000,000,000) over the past decade.

Using natural gas for cooking, space heating and water heating allows schools to make the most of their budget. The availability and low cost of natural gas has helped keep the average school’s energy expenditure between 2 and 4 percent of total expenditure. This means that money can be spent elsewhere – whether it’s on higher teacher salaries, more classroom materials or more nutritious food in the cafeteria.

The quality of the food itself also benefits greatly from natural gas. Check out the following graph from Perdue University showing American corn yields per acre:

See the yellow dots that form the flat line? That’s productivity per acre for as long as agriculture has existed. That’s why in 1900, the average American spent 42.5% of their income just on food—and that food represented a dramatically poorer diet than we’re used to. The discovery of the Haber-Bosch process in the early 1900s enabled the conversion of natural gas into synthetic fertilizer, sending agricultural productivity soaring. Thanks to natural gas, the American agricultural sector contributes $437 billion to U.S. GDP each year while keeping food prices far lower than they would otherwise be. The average American now spends 7.2% of their income on food, and public schools can provide lunches at an average cost of $3.81 per lunch, about 49 cents more than the $3.32 federal subsidy for free lunches.

More and better food makes a big difference for students. Feeding hungry children is good and a worthwhile endeavor in its own right. But both students and society as a whole see real, tangible benefits in free or reduced-price lunch programs. Children who eat right do better academically, and universal free meal programs have been shown to improve academic achievement.

Affordable natural gas saves schools money because they can spend less on energy and more on their students. This benefits students, schools, and society as a whole.