An average of almost 3 million children ate lunch daily through USDA’s summer nutrition programs last year, a huge decline from 5.4 million a day during summer 2021 with the effective end of pandemic-era operating flexibilities, said the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) on Monday. While lunch participation plunged by 44 percent, breakfast participation plunged by 62 percent, to an average of 1.8 million a day.
With the dramatic declines, participation in the summer meal programs was slightly higher than before the pandemic, said the antihunger group in an annual report on summer meals. During the pandemic, the government made the summer nutrition programs available throughout the country and relaxed the rules on participation.
“Despite a return to relative normalcy in summer 2022, many communities still struggled to recover from the disruptions introduced by the pandemic,” said the FRAC report. “Summer enrichment programs — which have always provided a key foundation for summer meals — faced ongoing staffing shortages. And although the pandemic-era waivers . . . were still technically available for summer 2022, Congress did not extend the waivers until the end of June” — too late for many sponsors to set up a program.
In late 2022, Congress created a Summer EBT program to help low-income families buy food if they have children eligible for free or reduced-price meals during the school year. The legislation also allows non-congregate meal service in under-served rural areas. “Summer EBT is an important complement to the provision of summer meals,” said FRAC.