<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0U48WM_0wPWgMuC00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0U48WM_0wPWgMuC00" width="1600" height="900" ></figure>The bipartisan Summer Meals Act (H.R. 9406) was reintroduced in the House in late August by Reps. Larsen (D-Wash.), Smith (R-N.J.), and Peltola (D-Alaska) and would reform and expand the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) to increase access to the federal initiative that funds meals served by nonprofit organizations, school districts and public agencies to children during the summer months.With summer in the rearview mirror, the reintroduction of the Summer Meals Act is a reminder that additional policy change is needed to greatly improve access to healthy meals during the summer months by making it easier for summer learning programs to provide meals and snacks. The legislation would enhance the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) to help improve nutrition and enhance learning in underserved areas by better integrating summer learning programs with meal programs.Across the country, about 21 million children receive free or reduced-price school lunch—meaning their families live at or near the poverty line—but only 1 in 7 of these high-need children have access to summer meals. The bipartisan Summer Meals Act would:<ul><li>Help more children access healthy food by lowering the threshold to allow areas with 40 percent or more of students receiving free or reduced lunch to be eligible for the program, rather than the current threshold of 50 percent. This would make the meals programs consistent with the eligibility for summer learning programs provided through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative.</li><li>Reduce the paperwork burden for meal program sponsors who want to participate in the program by streamlining the application process for programs operating year-round.</li><li>Improve nutrition in rural, underserved, and hard to reach areas by providing transportation grants for underserved areas to get children to summer meal sites and by promoting innovative ways to increase children’s access to summer meals, such as through mobile meal trucks.</li><li>Offer sites the option of serving two meals and a snack or three meals to children who attend evening enrichment programs during the school year and summer months.</li></ul>The bill builds on the USDA Summer Food Service Program which provides low-income children under age 18 who would normally receive free or reduced-price school lunch with quality, nutritious food during the summer. Summer meals sites often run in tandem with educational enrichment programs to keep children engaged and safe during the summer months. According to USDA, 84 percent of sites offered education activities and 77 percent of sites offered organized sports to engage with children.The Summer Meals Act could be incorporated into a larger Child Nutrition Act reauthorization package which could advance next Congress.</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Bipartisan Summer Meals Act reintroduced in the House of Representatives

The bipartisan Summer Meals Act (H.R. 9406) was reintroduced in the House in late August by Reps. Larsen (D-Wash.), Smith (R-N.J.), and Peltola (D-Alaska) and would reform and expand the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) to increase access to the federal initiative that funds meals served by nonprofit organizations, school districts and public agencies to children during the summer months.