Frac national school lunch program

Check this page for updates on efforts to mitigate the impacts of COVID coronavirus on the health, well-being and food security of low-income people.

The vast majority of schools — approximately 95 percent — participate in the program, providing meals to more than 30 million children on an average day. Explore the Lunch Menu. The Community Eligibility Provision CEP allows more than 30, high-poverty schools across the country to offer breakfast and lunch at no charge to all students while eliminating the traditional school meal application process.

As COVID impacts millions nationwide, more students than ever will need access to free school meals. Read the letter. School Meals are Essential for Student Health and Learning reviews the many benefits of the school meals programs, and summarizes the latest research on recent policy changes and innovative strategies that are increasing program access and improving student outcomes.

Read the brief. Read the report. Too many students miss out on the important benefits of school lunch when barriers exist that prevent students from consuming all of their meal.

This report includes best practices for school districts to maximize student participation and consumption in school meals. Read more. Community Eligibility: The Key to Hunger-Free Schools finds that the number of schools participating in community eligibility grew by 14 percent compared to the — school year, with Nearly Every Student Succeeds Act The Every Student Succeeds Act ESSA offers important opportunities for anti-hunger advocates to increase participation in the federal nutrition programs, particularly the school, summer, and afterschool nutrition programs.

These programs are critical education supports, ensuring that students are well-nourished and able to focus, concentrate, and learn.

Find Agencies. His mother was severely disabled and not fluent in English. When school lets out, millions of low-income children lose access to the school breakfasts, lunches and afterschool snacks and meals they receive during the regular school year. The Summer Nutrition Programs help fill this gap by providing free meals and snacks to children who might otherwise go hungry. The program is administered at the federal level by the U. Department of Agriculture USDA , and in each state through the department of education, agriculture, or health.

Celebrating 50 Years of Summer Nutrition Programs. Through the years, Congress has made a number of cuts to the Summer Nutrition Programs that have limited access to summer meals. These changes significantly reduced the number of communities that could participate and the number of sponsors that could operate SFSP; participation dropped by 26 percent from to from 1.

Law provided startup and expansion grants, and eased some of the administrative requirements of private nonprofit sponsors. Summer EBT — one of the most promising demonstration projects — provided an EBT card to families whose children are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals to purchase food at retailers. Evaluations found that Summer EBT reduces food insecurity and improves nutrition, and Congress has continued to invest in Summer EBT through annual appropriation bills.

In its first seven years, this work helped 77 cities feed over , children more than This initiative continued until FRAC worked to support state agencies and sponsors in their efforts to reinstate the waivers.

FRAC assists schools and community-based sponsors in sustaining meal programs throughout summer. Benefits of the Summer Nutrition Programs The Summer Nutrition Programs provide free meals and snacks to children 18 and under at sites in low-income communities or that serve primarily low-income children.

Most summer meal sites provide educational, enrichment or recreational activities that keep children learning, active and safe when school is not in session. Local governments, school districts, and private nonprofits can sponsor summer meal sites, which may be located at schools, parks, recreation centers, housing complexes, Indian reservations, YMCAs, Boys and Girls Clubs, houses of worship, camps, summer school, and other places where children congregate.

Sponsors receive a reimbursement for each eligible meal and snack served at meal sites. Strategies to Expand the Summer Nutrition Programs Comprehensive outreach, improved public policies, and expanded partnerships with national, state, and local stakeholders are key strategies to increasing participation in the Summer Nutrition Programs.

A summer breakfast can be as simple as a muffin, 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 summer sponsors with additional information about the nutrition guidelines and help them plan menus that meet the USDA requirements.

Beneath the federal organizations, several state agencies manage the operations in conjunction with school food authorities.

In order to participate, school lunches must meet certain federal nutrition guidelines. This means schools must follow a precise set of menu guidelines for their meals. The individual nutritional guidelines are many, but require schools to focus on increasing the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free and low-fat fluid milk in school meals.

Another area of focus is to reduce the amount of sodium and saturated fat within meals. Last of all, there are calorie requirements to consider. The National School Lunch Program outlines all things including smoothies, grain requirements, salad bars and sodium requirements on their nutritional standards for meals section of their website.

Schools who are able to follow the set of meal requirements set by the National School Lunch Program are reimbursed for their costs based on the number of meals served. During the school year, they can always count on school lunches being free or heavily discounted.

As the country has grown for decades, the number of children within families needing financial support for food has grown as well.

It's no wonder that, by its twenty-fifth anniversary, the program grew to feeding three times as many students each year from its original figure of 7. And because of the nutritionally balanced meal requirements, many of the children receiving lunches from the National School Lunch Program enjoy their healthiest meals at school.

This works to combat malnourishment and promote public health. The are plenty of benefits to the National School Lunch Program.

Here are just a few the NSLP has to offer. Nutrition is foundational to their ability to learn, and school lunches can help fill in the gaps of what many children are missing at home. There is still a lot of inequality in the U. Providing free and reduced-cost school lunches can help decrease childhood hunger. This was especially important during the nationwide shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic. The USDA was able to extend the program and allow anyone under the age of 18 to continue receiving meals through the summer.

The program was expanded to include meal pickup sites and home delivery options at no additional cost to the parents. This ensured that kids could continue to receive the meals they rely on for their nutritional needs. One of the greatest features of the National School Lunch Program is its nutritional standards. The standards are based on the latest nutritional science, which is important for growing kids.

When children have their basic nutritional needs met, this increases their overall health and well-being. They are less likely to get sick and miss school days and will be better able to pay attention at school. School lunches are also more convenient for working parents and give them more options. The NSLP is constantly changing as federal leaders look for ways to improve the program.

For instance, the USDA updated the program guidelines to recommend that schools serve more fruits and vegetables and offer whole grains whenever possible. For families living between to percent beneath the federal poverty line, the program is a life saver FRAC.