Summer Funding - The National School Lunch Program

Overview
The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides funds to schools and school sponsored organizations operating summer programs to serve nutritious meals to low-income children when school is not in session.

Sites can serve a maximum of two meals per day or a meal and a snack. Serving summer meals through NSLP is often easier for schools and school sponsored organizations than using the Summer Food Service Program because there is less paperwork and administrative requirements. Through the NSLP Seamless Summer Option, schools do not need to switch back and forth between the National School Lunch Program and the Summer Food Service Program, which makes operating meal programs year round much easier for school food service staff. Unfortunately, the reimbursement rate is lower for NSLP than it is for SFSP so schools need to decide if less paperwork or a higher reimbursement rate is a greater priority for them.

Unlike the requirements for the afterschool snack program, summer food sites do not need to provide enrichment or educational activities. Children can simply gather at a school, park or other community site to eat their meal or snack without any type of programming taking place at the site.

Reimbursement Rate
The federal reimbursement rate for summer meals is adjusted annually to keep up with the cost of inflation. To find out how much summer programs can receive per meal this year, check out the current reimbursement rates for NSLP.

Nutrition Guidelines
All summer meals served through the National School Lunch Program must meet USDA nutritional guidelines and include all of the following:

• 1 serving of milk
• 2 servings of fruits and/or vegetables
• 1 serving of grains
• 1 serving of protein

A summer lunch can be as simple as a turkey sandwich with lettuce and tomato, an apple and a carton of low-fat milk and a breakfast can be as simple as a breakfast burrito made of eggs, cheese, tomatoes and a tortilla, a pear and a carton of low-fat milk.

The state child nutrition agency can provide summer programs with additional information about the nutrition requirements and help them plan menus that meet the USDA requirements. Also, check out FRAC’s model summer meals menus.

Get Started
To begin serving summer meals through NSLP contact the school food service director.

For more information, check out Frequently Asked Questions.