For elementary, middle, and high school students who rely on schools for some of their meals, federally sponsored summer lunch programs fill the gap and address the need for accessible, nutritious meals year-round.
But the hot weather has made food security harder, and for students who rely on sponsored summer meal programs, a return to stricter policies could impede continued access to nutritious food, key officials said.
During the pandemic, federal policy allowed school districts to offer take-out options at food service sites during the summer. When federal policy reverted to normal rules after the pandemic, it meant many students had to eat at outdoor sites in the heat.
Experts say participation in summer feeding programs is likely to decline because kids can’t take meals home, which could result in kids going hungry.
Food insecurity is plaguing elementary, middle and high school students across the country, and it’s leaving experts perplexed.
According to Feeding America, a nonprofit organization focused on hunger relief, one in five children in the United States faces hunger.
Crystal Fitzsimmons, director of child nutrition programs and policy at the Food Research Action Center, a nonprofit whose mission is to help people living with hunger, said food insecurity increases during the summer for families with school-age children, making them more likely to gain weight and experience lower academic performance over the summer. This affects all children, but disproportionately affects those from low-income families.
But summer nutrition programs have historically reached only a small percentage of children who qualify for free or reduced-price school meals, Fitzsimmons said.
“[Summer meal programs are] “They’re not offered for free, families have to pay for them, or summer programs don’t exist,” Fitzsimmons said. “Also, transportation can be a barrier to accessing the meals. It’s much easier to provide meals where kids are already in school and eating lunch in the school cafeteria.”
Susan Maffe, director of food and nutrition services for Meriden Public Schools in Connecticut, oversees nutrition programs for her district’s 13 schools and about 8,600 students. She estimates that 70 to 80 percent of the district’s population receives Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, and the district provides free meals to all students.
The district’s summer meal program is feeding more than 1,000 people each day, but participation rates are “nowhere near” what they were when school was in session, she said.
USDA expands summer meal offers, but heat discourages participation
The USDA offers many options for students to access food over the summer. Schools can apply to operate sponsored meal sites or offer families the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program, which provides $120 for groceries, for example, per eligible child.
Families who use this program can also participate in other summer feeding programs, including locations where meals are provided.
According to Fitzsimmons, school lunch centers typically operate in areas where at least half of the children qualify for free or reduced-price school meals. Children under 18 can also enter for free. No application is required.
But there’s just one problem with field-based programs: Because of something called the group eligibility rule, kids usually have to eat their meals on-site or sponsors risk not getting reimbursed for the meals. (Starting this summer, some rural areas are exempt.)
Mafe is running 16 meal sites this summer, all funded by USDA so students can eat on-site, including a food truck that provides mobile service throughout the day at four parks.
Federal requirements affect participation rates, and she needs to monitor the field and enforce policies, she said.
“I feel like we were able to feed more kids when we had the take-out option,” she said.
While each site is required to prepare for inclement weather and other contingencies such as extreme heat or poor air quality, on days when heat, air quality or other weather conditions make it difficult to eat safely outdoors, fewer children attend.
“We’re seeing more and more days of extreme heat where kids can’t go outside,” Fitzsimmons said. “It’s making it harder to get programs to support them.”
Maffe said one of the facilities participating in her program saw a 25 percent drop in the number of people served during the two hottest days of the heat wave in late June, likely due to menu changes in addition to the heat.
“I think people don’t want to go outside because of the heat,” she said.
USDA Waiver Allows Flexibility During Extreme Heat
The USDA has expanded exemptions to these rules to allow school programs to send children home with meals on days when heat watches or warnings are in effect, rather than eating on campus in the summer heat.
These waivers, a holdover from the COVID-19 pandemic, give schools, students and families more flexibility in areas covered by the rules. So far, Maffe said he hasn’t heard from Connecticut officials about whether they can offer waivers.
She said if state officials offer waivers as an option, they will use them to improve participation rates on hot days.
“My goal here is to feed kids, and it’s a high-needs community, so if there’s a way to make that possible for students and families, I would love to do that,” she said of the waiver.
The Connecticut Department of Education confirmed to EdWeek that it has not yet shared this information.
A USDA spokesperson said in an email to Education Week that agencies must take into account extreme weather and the physical safety of children when approving meal sites.
Feeding facilities are not required to have alternative temperature-controlled facilities, but should have emergency response plans in place, the spokesman said.
“For example, a sponsor’s emergency response plan may require the facility to cease serving food if there are safety concerns, to use tents to provide shade on extremely hot days, or to partner with a housing community to use air-conditioned lobbies or community rooms on extremely hot days,” the spokesperson said.
Maffe, a 20-year veteran of the district, believes all facilities should be allowed to offer grab-and-go meals and worries that exemptions would add to the administrative burden and the already arduous process of getting new facilities approved to offer summer meals.
During the summer, temperatures can prevent students from receiving meals, so Fitzsimmons, of the Food Research and Assistance Center, said there is still work to be done to increase access to meals.
“Part of the non-collective movement is [meals] “This program helps us be more accessible,” she said, “and I think we can always do more to help kids have access to summer meals.”
