Nearly three-fourths of meals served in school lunch programs — 22 million on an average school day — are eaten by poor children. But when the school year ends, only about one in seven of those children gets a meal through the USDA’s summer nutrition programs, and that portion is down for the second year in a row, according to the Food Research and Action Center, an anti-hunger group.
Roughly 3 million children ate lunch through the summer meals programs in July 2017, a decline of 14,000 children from July 2016, when participation was nearly 5 percent, or 153,000 children, lower than in 2015. The downturns ended four consecutive years of growth. July is the benchmark for summer meals because it is the busiest month for the programs.
“It’s time to redouble efforts to ensure more low-income children have access to summer meals sites where they can eat healthy foods, learn, and play in a safe environment,” said FRAC president Jim Weill.
When the downturn in participation began, FRAC pointed to “the limited number of basic summer programs for low-income children.” The organizations that sponsor summer meals also tend to offer educational and enrichment programs. They operate at schools, recreation centers, YMCAs, churches, and parks. Other factors in the decline include limited public transportation in rural areas and the considerable amount of work needed to set up and staff a food program that will operate for the relatively brief period of six to eight weeks.
“The combination of meals and programming is what draws children to meal sites and helps reduce any stigma that may be associated with attending a site that provides meals only,” said FRAC in this year’s report. “Unfortunately, there are not enough summer programs available — or accessible — to low-income families. … [M]ore investment of public dollars at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as private funding, are needed.”
Participation in summer meals programs declined in most states last year, though 15 states showed improvement. Participation in Georgia zoomed by 38 percent, to 195,233 children for lunch, and in New Jersey by 25 percent, to 101,138 children for lunch.
For its new report, FRAC looked at breakfast as well as lunch programs. Overall, half as many children ate breakfast at summer food sites as ate lunch. The states with the highest ratios — at least 70 percent — of breakfast participation compared to lunch totals were Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia. The District of Columbia also scored above 70 percent.
The USDA provides funding for summertime meals and snacks at locations where at least 50 percent of the children in the neighborhood are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals or sites that serve primarily migrant children.
To read the FRAC report, “Hunger doesn’t take a vacation,” click here. FRAC traditionally releases the report at the start of summer.