There is such a thing as free lunch, for village kids  

广西少数民族山村学校：从挑担送饭到免费午餐

刚读小学的吴红梅在学校食堂领了免费饭菜，就和同学们在教室里吃了起来，一边谈论着这次期末考试的试题。这是广西三江侗族自治县富禄乡中心校本学期的最后一次免费午餐，菜类丰富，米饭随便吃。

Liuzhou (CNS) -- Wu Hongmei, a first grader in her village school of Liuzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, was discussing the final exam she and her classates wrote while having a free lunch on July 4.

Wu and her peers had a rich variety of dishes to choose from, and as much rice as they can eat, thanks to a free lunch program for underprivileged rural children in primary and junior high.

Since the autumn term of 2008, the city government has reached 100,000 poor students with this nutritional outreach.

Before the free lunch program, most students had to wait meals sent from home by their parents. Several kilometers away from the school, parents had to team up and take turns delivering meals to their children. Generally, the trip took one and a half hours over the rocky mountain roads, and the same trek back.