SPRINGDALE, Ark. -- High unemployment numbers and a down economy have families making tough budget cuts, even when it comes to school lunch.

More and more families are enrolling their children in the reduced and free lunch program.

This effect is happening all over the country, according to a report by the School Nutrition Association.

In fact, more than 75 percent of the nation's school districts are seeing an increase in the numbers of free lunches served, and it's even hitting hard in northwest Arkansas.

"Yes, our numbers are definitely up," said Rick Schaeffer, spokesperson for Springdale Public Schools.

Last year at the Springdale School District, around 8,000 of the district's 17,000 students were on free and reduced-priced lunches.

But this year, that number has jumped dramatically.

"We're a little over 9,000," said Schaeffer.

Just last month, the school district added another 67 students to the federal program.

"What we're also seeing is some who have qualified for reduced lunch now saying, ‘Our income has dropped, and so we now qualify for free lunch,’" said Schaeffer.

Officials said it's normal for the percentage of students on the program to go up every year, but this is the highest it's ever been.

“If you look at the percentage of our enrollment, you've gone from 53 percent of total enrollment in our free and reduced lunch to 56 percent of our enrollment in free and reduced lunch," said Schaeffer.

Even with the high numbers, though, the district is ready to take more in.

"As far as being able to keep kids fed, we're able to do that," said Schaeffer.

The district is able to take as many students into the free and reduced lunch program because it is federally funded.

For every student on the program, the government reimburses the school district its meal costs.

To qualify for the reduced lunch program, a family of four must make no more than $39,000 a year.

To qualify for free lunch, a family of the same size will have to make $27,000 or less.