A real free lunch for the summer

There really is such a thing as a free lunch, at least free to schoolchildren. And state officials want to make sure that more children take advantage of it during the summer months.

Basically, any child who qualifies for a subsidized meal at school during the school year can also get one during the summer. But only 30% of the 3 million eligible California students take advantage of the federally funded program. Participation could hardly be easier: Children who show up, get food -- no questions asked.

But many families don't know of the state-managed program, which distributes the food at more than 3,200 sites through an array of providers. The number of providers has grown, in fact, by more than 10% in part because the paperwork has been simplified, state officials said.

To help families find locations, the California Department of Education has created an interactive map of counties, which can be accessed through the department here, a website of the California Assn. of Food Banks.

At this point, the interactive map is cumbersome because it provides only an alphabetical list of food sites by county. It doesn't, for example, allow users to search by ZIP code.

State education officials also have produced information materials about the free food in many languages. But they must be accessed through the department's English website. So these materials are more for schools to use to get the word out. And in most places, school is out for the summer.

Read on to see the release from the California Department of Education:

           SACRAMENTO – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell today

announced economically disadvantaged children may receive free meals during the traditional

summer recess at more than 3,200 locations throughout California.

           "I am deeply saddened to see so many families suffering through these tough

economic times," O’Connell said. “The home foreclosure crisis and skyrocketing costs for

food and gasoline are increasing the number of families who need assistance making ends

meet. I am pleased that we can help these families stretch their food dollars with two of

our summer feeding programs that provide nutritious meals for economically disadvantaged

kids and some adults."

           Children 18 years and younger in low-income areas and persons over 18 who

participate in a public or nonprofit private school program for the mentally or physically

disabled may receive free meals through the Summer Food Service and the Seamless Summer

Feeding Option programs. Both are federally funded programs administered through the

California Department of Education’s Nutrition Services Division. The programs operate when

school is not in session for 15 days or more.

Normally during the school year, economically disadvantaged children are eligible to

receive at least one nutritious meal a day while at school. But when school is out during

the long summer recess, children can miss out on these well-balanced and nutritious meals

that are important to their growth and development. When children do not receive proper

nutrition, they are more likely to become ill and are not able to concentrate or perform

well when they are in school. Providing children with nutritious meals when school is not

is session helps them to return to school ready to learn and succeed.

           To help parents more easily find a summer meal site, the California Department

of Education has created a new interactive Web page with a map of California. Visitors may

click any location on the map to reveal a list of Summer Food Service programs near them.

Parents may take their children to four different kinds of summer meal sites.

           In open sites, all children eat free in communities where at least 50 percent of

the children are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals. Restricted open sites

also serve children in low-income areas, but are restricted for safety, control, or

security reasons. In closed enrolled sites, the community serves an enrolled group of

low-income children. Other feeding locations include migrant education sites that serve

children of migrant families and residential or non-residential camps. Parents may also

have their children participate in the Seamless Summer Feeding Option. This program

provides nutritious meals for children as well as fun, safe, supervised activities that are

coupled with learning opportunities.

           The summer meal sites include public and private schools; Indian tribal

governments; units of local, municipal, or county governments; and other public or private

nonprofit agencies. These sites are reimbursed from the federal government through the

California Department of Education. The sites must serve meals that follow a plan that

includes milk, fruits, vegetables or juice; grain products; and meat or meat alternates.

The program allows sites to serve each day: two meals; a meal and a snack; or if at a camp,

three meals a day.

           The interactive Web page with list of summer meal sites contains contact names

and telephone numbers where parents may get more information. The list will be updated

throughout the summer. To access the Web page, please visit here. Also, schools may soon download free

parental notifications in several languages about the summer meal sites and the new

interactive map from the California Department of Education’s Clearinghouse for

Multilingual Documents here.

-- Howard Blume

Comments

[ChildFreeByChoice]

Sorry, if you can't feed 'em, don't breed 'em.
Anyone else sick and tired of irresponsible parenting?