[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”underline solid” sep_color=”#000000″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]Obama Administration sets goal of serving 200 million meals to children and teens this summer[/title][fusion_text]Monday, June 22nd 2015
On the 40th anniversary of USDA’s summer meal programs, the Obama Administration has set a goal of serving 200 million meals to children and teens this summer – an increase of 13 million meals from last year. With school letting out for the summer, the Administration is making unprecedented investments in new tools and local capacity to better serve high-need rural families and communities. Only 3.8 million of the 21.7 million low-income children who received free or reduced-price lunch during the school year participate in the USDA summer meal programs, including both the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Seamless Summer Option. The challenge is particularly great in rural areas and Indian Country, where 15 percent of households are food insecure but where children and teens often live longer distances from meal sites and lack access to public transportation. Rural poverty is both pervasive and persistent: A recent White House report found that 1.5 million children in rural areas live in poverty, and that over 85 percent of persistent poverty counties nationwide are located in rural America. Since 2009, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has conducted targeted outreach, forged partnerships, and invested in staff capacity to increase the number of meals served in rural and tribal areas.
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