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Summer Meals

Summer is a time for connection, exploration, and fun! Summer meal programs make sure children and young people have the nutrition they need to do just that. During the school year, meals are available to kids through school breakfast and lunch. But kids lose critical access to meals during the summer when schools are out. To fill this gap, many local schools and community organizations across Tennessee operate summer meal programs to provide food to kids at no cost. Summer meal programs are operated locally, overseen by the Tennessee Department of Human Services, and administered and funded by the US Department of Agriculture.

Summer meals are:

  • Available for any kid or teen up to age 18
  • Available at no cost 
  • Require no paperwork, signups, or eligibility confirmation required
  • Fun! Many programs incorporate fun activities like art projects, sports, and science experiments in addition to serving meals

Barriers

Summer meals haven’t been reaching all the children and young people who experience food insecurity. Without reliable sources of healthy food throughout the summer, kids who live with families experiencing financial hardship are at greater risk of returning to school further behind academically, which can have exponential ramifications year after year.

One of the main barriers to participation in Summer Meals is because kids and families simply don’t know they exist! To help combat this every year, No Kid Hungry runs a free texting service that helps connect families with meals in their neighborhoods.

Another reason for low summer meals participation is limited transportation. In both rural and urban areas, if parents work during the day, children may be unable to get to the locations where meals and activities happen. That’s why we’ve made it one of our top priorities to support summer grocery benefits and non-congregate meal service wherever possible. Non-congregate models like grab & go pick-up or delivery allow children to eat at home and provide more flexibility and support to families, and grocery benefits give households more buying power to cover additional meals at home.

Solving the Problem

For the first time, programs in rural areas may be eligible to serve non-congregate meals. The passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 permanently authorized a non-congregate meal service option for rural communities without access to a congregate site. It also created a permanent nationwide Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program (Summer EBT) that began in summer 2024 that provided grocery benefits to families of children and young people eligible for free or reduced-price school meals.

Together, rural non-congregate meals, Summer EBT, and traditional congregate meals form a Summer Meals program that can better combat summer hunger. 

No Kid Hungry Tennessee has joined communities across the state who are offering summer meals to provide support, guidance, and funding to ensure children and young people have access to needed food when school is out. Visit our Resources page to learn more!