FRAC: Press Release - FRAC Releases Summer Nutrition Report 2009 (7/8/09)

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Jen Adach, 202-986-2200 x3018, jadach@frac.org

No Vacation for Hunger This Summer As Millions of Children Miss Out on Healthy Meals
Expanding Summer Food Access Must be a Top Priority in Upcoming Child Nutrition Reauthorization, Says FRAC

Download Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report

Washington, D.C. – July 8, 2009 – The nation’s Summer Nutrition Programs continue to fall far short of meeting the need, with just one of out every six eligible low-income children participating in July 2008, according to Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation, an analysis by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). FRAC enumerates ways that the upcoming reauthorization of the child nutrition programs can make important targeted investments in the programs so they serve more children.

While 16.8 million low-income children received school lunch during the regular school year, only 2.9 million children got summer food when school was out. That means the Summer Nutrition Programs reached only 17.3 percent of low-income children in July 2008.

For states, low participation means they are missing out on federal funds that can help them feed children when they are the hungriest. If states boosted participation to serve just 40 percent of eligible low-income children, they would receive an additional $250 million in federal funds just for July nutrition programs – and reach an additional 3.8 million children.

“Even in the best economic times, millions of families struggle to feed their children healthy, filling meals after schools close their doors for the summer. These are not good economic times, and the need for the Summer Nutrition Programs is greater than ever,” said Jim Weill, FRAC president. “But, the programs as structured now reach too few children, and significant improvements need to be made to expand their reach. The upcoming Child Nutrition Reauthorization affords a real opportunity to improve the Summer Nutrition Programs so that they benefit all eligible low-income children.”

In its report, FRAC outlined a series of recommendations to improve the Summer Nutrition Programs, including:

Improve the eligibility. The current threshold (a program can get federal funds for summer food if at least half of all children in the local area are eligible for free or reduced price meals) is tougher than it was in the programs’ earlier stages and keeps many communities with significant numbers of low-income children from qualifying.
Restore reimbursement rates to their pre-1996 levels and index them to inflation. The SFSP reimbursement rates were cut by 10 percent in 1996, making it much harder for local public agencies and non-profits to sponsor summer food programs without losing money.
Provide start-up and expansion grants. Without these dollars (eliminated in 1996), it is challenging to recruit new sponsors and to encourage current sponsors to serve additional sites, both of which are necessary to grow participation.
Provide funding for transportation costs. In rural areas, transportation is one of the biggest barriers to Summer Nutrition participation. Providing funding to help get children to Summer Nutrition Programs that offer high quality educational and enrichment activities is a vital way to support access in rural areas.

In his FY 2010 Budget, President Barack Obama included $1 billion in new funding for Child Nutrition Reauthorization, terming this an investment towards meeting his goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015.

“This is the time to make basic and overdue improvements in the child nutrition programs, including the Summer Nutrition Programs, so more children can access healthy food,” said Weill.

The Summer Nutrition Programs, which include the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program, fill the food gap for low-income children (and their families) who rely on school breakfast and lunch during the school year to help keep hunger at bay. Through these programs, children (ages 18 and under) can receive free meals at participating summer sites at schools, parks departments, and nonprofits.

About the report: The Food Research and Action Center’s annual summer report, Hunger Doesn’t Take A Vacation, gives data for all states and looks at national trends. The report measures participation in the Summer Nutrition Programs by comparing the number of children receiving summer meals to the number of children receiving school lunch during the regular school year. FRAC measures national summer participation during the month of July, when typically all children are out of school throughout the month and lose access to regular year school meals.

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The Food Research and Action Center (www.frac.org) is the leading national organization working for more effective public and private policies to eradicate domestic hunger and under-nutrition.