The number of students receiving free summer meals notably increased in 2020 and 2021 from pre-pandemic levels.
That was the result of the federal government loosening rules governing schools and community organizations that provide students free meals during the summer, and school districts and other groups ramping up efforts to feed students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But there’s since been a drop in the number of students receiving free meals once school has let out for the summer. And experts expect participation to continue to fall this summer following last June’s expiration of federal waivers that made free school meals available to all students, regardless of income, and allowed schools and other organizations to set up free summer meal distribution sites anywhere.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Department of Agriculture (the federal agency that oversees school meal programs) authorized waivers allowing districts to expand their meal programs. The waivers temporarily suspended the standard requirements that only students whose families were determined to be low income based on federal criteria were eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
The waivers also provided more flexibility for how and where students could receive their meals.
Under the traditional program, students are required to eat their school meals on site, but the waivers allowed for grab-and-go meals, or the option to pack up several days’ worth of meals that families could pick up and take home all at once. Many districts changed their meal service infrastructure in response, setting up meal deliveries and pick-up sites.
Summer meal programs, as a result of the waivers, could set up shop wherever demand was greatest. They weren’t limited to areas with high concentrations of low-income households.
The changes led to increased participation in meal programs, particularly in the summer, according to research from the Food Research & Action Center, an anti-hunger advocacy group.
Here are some numerical highlights from the center’s January report on summer nutrition, entitled “Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation,” and a January report from the School Nutrition Association on challenges for school meal programs.
In July 2021, on an average weekday, summer nutrition programs served lunch to almost 5.6 million children, an INCREASE of just over 2.8 million, more than double the number of children served in July 2019.
In July 2021, 30.4 children received summer lunch for every 100 children who received a free or reduced-price lunch in the 2020-2021 school year.
Nine states and the District of Columbia met the Food Research & Action Center's goal of reaching 40 children with summer meals for every 100 children who received free or reduced-price lunch during the 2020-2021 regular school year.
Participation in July 2021—the second summer impacted by COVID-19—was lower than in July 2020. About 600,000 FEWER children participated in the summer nutrition programs, despite the same flexibilities being available to sponsors.
