Government
Why Kids Go Hungry in the Summer
Throughout the U.S., policies around providing meals for low-income children fail to reach 85 percent of those in need.
When the final bell announces the start of summer, the 21 million American children who rely on free or reduced-cost lunches during the school year will look ahead to what Lucy Melcher, the associate advocacy director for No Kid Hungry, calls “the hungriest time of the year.”
The federal Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) was launched in 1968 and designed to provide children from low-income families with subsidized meals during the months when school is out of session. But that food only reaches about 15 percent of kids in need.