Vermont Business Magazine A report released today by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) confirms that Vermont continues to be a national leader in the fight to end childhood hunger, especially during the summer months when free school meals are not available. The “Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation” report shows that Vermont has improved its national rank from 4th to 3rd in serving kids summer meals, with an average daily participation of 8,779—a 14% increase in average daily participation over summer 2014. With outreach and assistance from Hunger Free Vermont, Vermont also increased its number of summer meal sites by 6%. Meanwhile, average daily participation in summer meals has plateaued on the national scale with just 1 out of every 6 kids from low-income households getting summer meals. In Vermont, 1 out of every 3 kids from low-income households who rely on school meals during the school year accessed summer meals in 2015.
The national Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) is administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) which has made outreach on summer nutrition a priority along with state partners such as Vermont’s Agency of Education and Hunger Free Vermont. Over the past decade, Vermont has seen consistent growth in the SFSP among low-income children despite declining overall school enrollment. However, in this difficult financial climate, many summer meal sites struggle to cover added costs such as transportation, site supervision and enrichment programming. “The rural nature of our state presents unique challenges for sponsors who provide summer meals to children,” said Marissa Parisi, Executive Director at Hunger Free Vermont. “For these programs to be successful, children and families need access to opportunities for both nutrition and enrichment activities. While USDA Child Nutrition Programs provide critical funding for these efforts, communities must be very resourceful in stretching those dollars to maximum effect and identifying other funding sources to cover shortfalls.”
To prevent the loss in programming and support expansion of summer meal programs, organizations like Hunger Free Vermont have worked with the USDA and local communities to find new and creative solutions to feed more children in the summer months. Libraries, day care centers, and housing developments have become popular locations for summer meal sites, providing enhanced services to children and families in locations they already frequent. Innovative approaches like these have led to an increase in summer meal sites active across Vermont – over 306 locations served meals in 2015 – and the USDA has provided direct support to Vermont summer meals programs in the form of banners, yard signs, and posters publicizing summer site locations.
While Vermont continues to lead the way in making summer meals available, more work still needs to be done. Less than 9,000 of the 37,000 children who qualify for free school meals accessed summer meals in 2015. By promoting summer meal sites, partner organizations around the state are working hard to increase the number of children participating in summer meal and activity programs this summer. To find out where summer meal sites are located in Vermont, children and families can dial 211 toll free or text ‘FOOD’ to 877-877.
Free summer meal program kickoff events are happening around Vermont in June at the following locations:
Thursday, June 16th – Newport: Green Mountain Farm to School will have a 'Block Party in the Kingdom' from 3:00-6:00 PM at Gardner Park in Newport, 155 Gardner Park Rd, Newport. Farmers' market, activities, live music, and free food for kids 18 and under.
Friday, June 17th - Milton: Summer food sponsor, Steve Marinelli of Milton Town School District will host a carnival and BBQ for kids on school grounds beginning at 11:00 AM, 42 Herrick Ave, Milton.
June 14, 2016 (South Burlington, VT) — FRAC