Free Meals Are Available For Children 18 Years And Younger

Free meals are available for children 18 years and younger this summer. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) continues with their plans to serve more than 20 million children free nutritious meals as part of their Summer Food Service Program (SFSP).

This summer commemorates the USDA, Summer Food Service Program’s 40th anniversary. In partnership with schools, community organizations, and local governments, the USDA continues in their effort to prevent children from going hungry during the summer months.

On May 29, the USDA provided a news release where Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack offered a short overview of their food service program objectives to members of a Milwaukee, Wisconsin community.

“For 40 years, USDA has supported summer meal programs that keep children in low-income communities active and engaged when school is out, while providing critical nutrition and reducing the learning loss that often occurs during the summer months. Programs like these in Milwaukee allow communities to take the lead role in preventing hunger and focus their efforts in local areas with the greatest need. Over the long haul, this program can result in children performing better in school, which in turn can put them in a better position to be competitive in the global workplace.”

The USDA reports that during the school year, the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs provide reduced priced or free meals to more than 21 million children. Most of these children depend on the meals provided by the programs.

However, during the summer months, only 3.8 million children participate in the USDA’s Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program (NSL) Seamless Summer Option. The USDA designed the programs to make sure children have access to healthy and safe meals when school lets out.

Last year, the USDA served more than 187 million meals at close to 50,000 summer meal locations across the United States. This year, the USDA’s goal is to serve 200 million meals nationwide—an additional 13 million meals.

For families interested in finding a SFSP site in their community, where nutritious free meals are being served, the USDA has a Summer Food site finder they update on a regular basis throughout the summer months. Sites are places in the community where children can safely receive meals in a supervised environment, including schools, community centers, churches, and parks.

The USDA also offers a Summer Meals Toolkit for individuals, organizations, and communities interested in learning how to get involved in helping to stop child hunger by offering free meals to children this summer.

[Featured image via Bellevue Dayton Sun]