Why summer meals? For many children in low-income neighborhoods, the stability and nutrition offered by the lunch they get at school all but ends when school lets out for summer vacation.

According to California Food Policy Advocates’ 2011 School’s Out…Who Ate report, an estimated 80% of children in California receiving free/reduced-price lunches through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) during the school year did not participate in one of the USDA’s summer feeding programs (Summer Food Service Program, National School Lunch Program/Seamless Summer Feeding Option). Many communities simply do not have enough summer meal providers, or due to cuts to summer school programs, have been forced to cut back existing summer meal programs.

This is an untapped opportunity to combat childhood hunger and obesity. The California Summer Meal Coalition’s mission is to encourage more school districts and community organizations to become summer meal providers by providing resources and linkages to successful programs. We strive to support summer meal program managers with information and tools to help them operate their program and effectively integrate nutrition education activities.

Led by CCRWF, the Summer Meal Coalition partners with the Nutrition Services Division of the California Department of Education, the California Department of Public Health’s Network for a Healthy California, and summer meal leaders from across the state to help new summer meal providers get started and existing providers succeed.