More sites offered USDA's Summer Food Service Program in 2015

The Summer Food Service Program provides nutritious meals and snacks at no charge to children in low-income areas when their schools are not in session. Summer Food Service Program sites include schools, camps, parks, playgrounds, housing projects, community centers, churches, and other public sites where children gather in the summer. Sites are eligible to offer free USDA-funded meals and snacks if the sites operate in areas where at least half of the children come from families with incomes at or below 185 percent of the Federal poverty level or if more than half of the children the site serves meet this income criterion. The number of sites offering summer meals rose from 45,170 sites in 2014 to 47,585 in 2015. Participation on an average operating day in July dropped slightly from 2.7 million children in 2014 to 2.6 million in 2015. Many low-income children also obtain free meals while school is out through the Seamless Summer Option of the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs. This chart is from the Child Nutrition Programs: Summer Food Service Program topic page on the ERS website, updated May 25, 2016.

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