Despite ongoing food insecurity among Indiana families, fewer children are utilizing free summer meal programs. A new report by the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) highlights a significant decline in participation. Nearly 58,000 fewer children received lunch, and 60,000 fewer children received breakfast daily in July 2022 compared to the previous year. This sharp decline follows earlier increases during the pandemic when expanded waivers made meals more accessible. Emily Weikert Bryant, executive director of Feeding Indiana’s Hungry, emphasized the challenges, saying, “As we’ve returned more to normal operating procedures, we just don’t have the ability to reach as many kids with as many meals.”

Summer Meal Programs Under Strain

The federal Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and National School Lunch Program (NSLP) are designed to provide nutritious meals during school breaks. However, the number of participating sponsors and sites has decreased dramatically. Data from the Indiana Department of Education showed a drop from 280 sponsors in 2021 to 192 in 2023, with corresponding site numbers falling from 2,035 to 1,047.

Bryant and FRAC experts attribute this decline to the reintroduction of pre-pandemic eligibility limitations, staffing shortages, and supply chain disruptions. Previously, at least 50% of children in an area needed to qualify for free or reduced-price meals to establish a site. This requirement was temporarily lifted during the pandemic, allowing more flexible access, but has since been reinstated.

Addressing the Gaps

FRAC’s goal is for states to serve summer lunches to 40 children for every 100 who receive free or reduced-price school meals. As of July 2022, only eight out of every 100 eligible Indiana children received summer meals. Meeting this goal would require Indiana to increase summer meal participation by over 200,000 children, potentially bringing in an additional $19 million in federal reimbursements.

Despite new programs and initiatives, Bryant stressed the need for further action to ensure children have access to nutritious food during the summer. She praised a recent pilot program that expanded meal access in rural areas and emphasized the importance of continued innovations.

“We need to see more of this, not just in rural areas, but anywhere,” Bryant said. “It’s not just finding a location but getting to it each day to sit and eat the meal on site that can be difficult.”

Moving Forward

The pandemic led to the creation of a permanent program providing an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card for summer food purchases, which will take effect next summer. Bryant sees this as a significant step forward, noting that SNAP benefits do not increase during the summer when children are out of school.

FRAC is urging policymakers to improve summer meals access through better state-level promotion, increased financial support for meal sites, and federal policy changes to lower eligibility thresholds and boost funding. These measures aim to ensure more children can access essential nutrition during school breaks.

Families struggling with food insecurity can also rely on food banks and pantries for additional support throughout the year. Despite these efforts, FRAC warns that more work is needed to address the underlying issues and ensure that all children have consistent access to nutritious meals, especially during the summer months.

The Human Impact

Bryant shared an anecdote about a family from a rural area who benefited from the pilot program allowing children to access meals without being present at the site. “This family was able to pick up meals for their kids without the daily struggle of traveling to the site,” she said. “It made a significant difference in their ability to provide nutritious food.”

Such stories underscore the importance of innovative approaches to tackling food insecurity. Bryant concluded with a call to action: “We must continue to find ways to make these programs more accessible and ensure no child goes hungry, regardless of the season.”