USDA announces free school meals for children through summer

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday that it would take steps to ensure that free meals are offered to all American schoolchildren when schools are out over the summer, reaching more of the estimated 12 million children experiencing food insecurity.

The USDA said in an announcement that it was extending waivers that allow all schoolchildren to receive free meals until Sept. 30.

The waivers allow meals to be served at no cost, outside of group settings and mealtimes, allowing parents and guardians to pick up multiple days of food at once in some school districts, and without their kids' presence.

"We will do everything we can to make sure children get access to healthy, nutritious meals regardless of their families' financial circumstances," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a statement Tuesday. "Our child nutrition professionals are doing a heroic job ensuring kids across the country have proper nutrition throughout this public health emergency, often times with limited resources."

Tuesday's announcement did not come with increased per-meal reimbursements for providers.

During the pandemic, most school meal programs have operated at a loss, with significantly higher costs and no increased per-meal reimbursement from the USDA.

"It's cheaper to make a big vat of spaghetti and put it on trays for kids than it is to safety package to-go meals," explained Lisa Davis, senior vice president of Share Our Strength, a hunger charity.

"Schools have needed boxes and bags and shrink wrap; there has needed to be added refrigeration to store meals safely. Then there were supply-chain issues, transportation costs went up, and certain foods were harder to come by and at a premium. Staffing costs went up as districts started paying hazard pay, bringing in temporary support and providing PPE."

Katie Wilson, executive director of the Urban School Food Alliance, a professional organization for 16 of the largest school districts in the country, says her member districts reported collective losses of $130.8 million for the year ending June 30, 2020. She said that before Tuesday's announcement her districts were in "panic mode" about the summer but that while this announcement will help, for school districts "it's not enough. The USDA needs to look at the reimbursement rate. It's only gone up 40 cents per meal in the past ten years."

Diane Pratt-Heavner, director of media relations for the School Nutrition Association, the trade group for school food-service manufacturers and professionals, says the announcement will mean no disruption in the grab-and-go curbside offerings many families have relied upon during the crisis, but how meal programs pay for expanded services remains a question.

"We're still very concerned about the financial impact. We've seen very dramatic losses in reimbursement, and we will continue to advocate for financial relief. Schools are going to need help covering the losses," she said.

Before Tuesday's announcement, the waiver would have expired at the end of June, meaning many summer meal service sites would have ceased operations. Pratt-Heavner said she anticipates that there will still be students who learn from home and that schools will need to maintain some safety protocols into the fall, so she hopes the waivers will be extended further.

"The pandemic has made it evident how critical these programs are, whether it's distance learning or in the cafeteria. These meals are just as critical as textbooks and teachers to ensure students are focused on their studies," Pratt-Heavner said.

School nutrition advocates say the measure could help provide momentum for the federal government to adopt universal free meals for all schoolchildren.

"I think there is a ton of energy and momentum free school meals being driven by the pandemic," said Crystal FitzSimons, director of school programs for the Food Research and Action Center, an anti-hunger nonprofit. She says that even before the pandemic hit, 30,000 of the country's 92,000 schools that participate in school meals were serving all students free meals if they determined that at least half of the students in the district were low-income.

FitzSimons said offering free breakfast and lunch to all students reduces administrative paperwork for schools, eliminates stigma from participating in the program and reduces students' impediments to learning. She said California, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon and Vermont have introduced bills to make school meals free.

"A lot of these flexibilities are things advocates have been pushing for decades," said Jamie Bussel, a senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropy focused on health. "What's new is the sense of urgency."

She said studies show that eating regular breakfast, including breakfast at school, has cognitive benefits including better behavior and academic performance.

Vermont Sen. Bobby Starr, a Democrat who introduced the bill in his state, said the pandemic had forced the issue of food insecurity.

“My take on this whole thing is that we spend $1.8 billion to educated our 70,000 children in Vermont,” he said. “What is another $5 million to $10 million a year to guarantee every kid has adequate food? It’s like pocket change.”