ORLANDO, Fla. — All students at Orange County Public Schools will receive free meals this school year, the district announced Monday.

“We believe every student deserves access to healthy and nutritious meals regardless of socioeconomic status,” the district wrote on its website.

The district said that students will get free breakfast and lunch as “all existing OCPS schools will be implementing the Community Eligibility Provision.”

Parents will still be able to add funds to students’ accounts so they can purchase a la carte “smart snacks” like light popcorn, pretzels and granola bars.

Orange County joins Volusia County, which announced earlier this month that it would continue to provide free breakfast and lunch for all students during the upcoming school year.

Flagler, Marion, and Lake counties also offer free meals to all students.

“Certain times of the year kids are not in school so they want breakfast, they want lunch, they want dinner, they want three snacks and then it becomes — it can get very, very pricey,” says Orange County parent Kristen Morris-Washington. “I hope every single parent feels relieved because I know a few parents who their kids go to certain schools and they can not afford to pay for the school lunches.”

She said she used to spend about $400 a month on groceries for the family, but in this economy it is costing her about $700.

“Hopefully neighboring counties, they pick up on it and they say, ‘oh this is a good idea,’ and it could benefit a lot of other kids,” said Morris-Washington.

At the moment, Seminole, Brevard and Osceola Counties offer free meals based on eligibility.

OCPS has breakfast and lunch menus for each school available online.

For more information on the meals program, visit the Orange County Public Schools website.