The Christian Science Monitor – Allyn Rosenberger
“Nearly 22 million low-income children receive free or reduced-priced meals during the school year through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), according to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). FRAC’s annual summer meals report, however, found that only one in six of these children receives summer meals through the two federal summer nutrition programs—the NSLP Seamless Summer Option and the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). The nonprofit Feeding America is working to expand summer food access to millions of low-income children. Feeding America believes that the “gap of one in six summer to school-time participants is the result of various barriers experienced only during the summer, including a lack of access to meal sites, insufficient program awareness, and limited resources when schools are closed.” Feeding America utilizes their nationwide network of food banks to combat these barriers and enact nutritious summer food service programs.”(more)