1 in 6
kids in Tennessee face hunger
End Summer Hunger for Kids in Tennessee
When school is out, many children lose access to the free or reduced-price meals they receive during the school year, making summer one of the hungriest times of year for kids. Communities use a combination of programs to help fill this gap, but in Tennessee, families are missing something important: Summer EBT. Tennessee families previously received support through this program, which helped children in every county access groceries during the summer. Now, families across the state are counting on Tennessee to restore the program.
Summer EBT provides eligible Tennessee families with $120 per child for the summer. The program could reach an estimated 650,000 eligible kids across all 95 counties, expanding beyond the current state program that operates in just 15 counties.
If state lawmakers opt in, Tennessee could receive around $78 million in federal dollars, directly boosting local economies, especially in rural communities. Based on current estimates, that’s an expected economic impact of up to $139 million for the state.
“Sometimes we just don’t buy groceries when the pantry gets low.” said one mom in Humphreys County. “We used Summer EBT to keep the pantry fuller more often.”
While summer should be a time for fun and growth, for too many kids in Tennessee, it’s a time of uncertainty. When school is out, families lose access to school meals, and the gap is often hardest in rural areas. According to a 2024 survey, a majority of Tennessee families who qualify for Summer EBT are unable to meet their food needs. Nearly three-quarters (71%) often find themselves without enough money for food and nearly two-thirds (62%) struggle to provide their kids with enough nutritious food when school is out in the summer.
Summer EBT changes that. The program provides $120 per eligible child for the summer, giving families the flexibility to purchase food that meets their children’s needs without worrying about transportation to meal sites, stigma, or limited meal site hours. Summer EBT would also dramatically expand access to nutritious food compared to the state’s existing program, which served about 18,000 children in just 15 counties last year. For a similar investment, Summer EBT has the potential to reach children across all 95 counties, making it a far more effective and equitable approach to ensuring Tennessee kids have consistent access to food during the summer months.
The benefits of Summer EBT are clear, and so is public support. A strong majority of Tennessee adults (86%) believe the state should participate, while 81% worry that elected officials will decline federal funding despite the program’s permanent authorization.
Even a few months without this support can have lasting effects. Families often stretch limited resources, skip meals, or make impossible trade-offs.
This is a problem we can solve. State lawmakers have a clear choice: provide families with Summer EBT support, or let 650,000 of children face another summer without the healthy meals they need to thrive.
