Summer Nutrition Programs

Locate Summer Food Sites

You can find summer food sites in your area by calling the National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3 HUNGRY, or go to http://www.whyhunger.org/findfood. Hablamos español. Or text ‘food’ to 877-877 to find out about summer meals sites near you.

July 2012 Participation:

  • An average of 2.8 million children participated each weekday in the Summer Nutrition Programs.
  • 14.3 children received summer nutrition for every 100 low-income students who received lunch in the 2011-2012 school year.
  • Only one in seven low-income children who ate a school lunch during the regular 2011-2012 school year were reached by the Summer Nutrition Programs.

Resources

Use Summer Food Programs to Address Hunger and Obesity

FRAC’s Crystal FitzSimons teamed up with Daniel W. Hatcher of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation for this book chapter on about accessible and affordable strategies to address hunger and obesity that are well suited to the design of afterschool and summer programs. More…

Summer Meals Continue to Fall Short

June 10, 2013 – Despite a slight increase in the number of low-income children eating summer meals in July 2012, the nation’s Summer Nutrition Programs continue to fall far short of their goal to curb summer hunger. Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation, an analysis by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), found that for every seven low-income students who depended on the National School Lunch Program during the regular 2011-2012 school year, only one child received summer meals in July 2012. More…

Revision of Census Eligibility Data for CACFP and SFSP

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has recently released revised census data for use in area eligibility determinations for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). Due to an error in data provided by the Census Bureau, a small percent of census block groups were incorrectly categorized as being eligible for the programs. FNS released a memo (pdf) on April 26 to clarify the issue and how it affects SFSP sites and CACFP homes that have already been determined.

The memo explains which CACFP homes and SFSP sites need to be re-determined. To help you easily identify if your site/program is in an affected area, FRAC has created a map of all of the affected census block groups across the county.

FRAC’s Child and Adult Care Food Program Mapper and the Summer Food Target Mapper were updated with the correct data. All determinations made as of April 6th are valid. Determinations made before that date must be reviewed according to the memo’s guidance.

Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act Implementation

USDA is issuing policy memos, available on the agency’s implementation web page, to offer guidance on implementing the act.

About Summer Nutrition Programs

When school lets out, millions of low-income children lose access to the school breakfasts, lunches and afterschool snacks they receive during the regular school year. The summer food programs are there to fill this gap.

Many summer food sites provide educational enrichment and recreational activities along with meals and snacks, helping children continue to learn and stay safe when school is not in session. The meals provided through summer nutrition programs act as a magnet to draw children to these activities.

In late 2007, Congress simplified the summer food program and extended it to include all states. Simplifying the program eliminated complex accounting requirements, reduced paperwork and ensures all sponsors receive the maximum federal reimbursement.

Two federal nutrition programs exist to feed children during the summer months:

Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)
Best for:

  • summer programs operated by a local government agency such as Parks and Recreation or nonprofit organization;
  • schools that are especially concerned about reimbursement rates (the SFSP reimbursement is higher than the NSLP reimbursement which is the reason why some schools operate SFSP during the summer instead of NSLP).

National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
Best for:

  • summer programs that are school sponsored and have a school food service department that is willing to provide healthy snacks and meals;
  • summer programs that do not have the capacity to administer the snack or meal service itself.

All summer meals served through the Summer Food Service 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 breakfast can be as simple as a fruit muffin, cheese stick, watermelon slice and a carton of low-fat milk. Lunch can be as simple as vegetable pasta, a low-fat yogurt cup, watermelon and a carton of low-fat milk.

The state child nutrition agency can provide afterschool programs with additional information about the nutrition guidelines and help them plan menus that meet the USDA requirements.

http://frac.org/federal-foodnutrition-programs/summer-programs/find-summer-food-sites/