COVID-19: Changing the Way School Meal Programs are Run
Photo Credit Lance Cheung/ Multimedia PhotoJournalist on Wikimedia Commons; public domain image.
When it was announced that schools and other childcare centers would close due to the outbreak of COVID-19, teachers and school officials quickly took action. Lesson plans were adjusted so work could be done at home or over a Zoom call. Some students were provided with laptops, books, and other resources to help them finish the year out strong. It wasn’t perfect, but it could work.
Still, there was one major problem that loomed in the minds of teachers, parents, and students alike: What would happen to the millions of students who rely on school breakfast, lunch, and snack programs?
The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is the second largest anti-hunger initiative in the country, falling just behind SNAP [FN1]. As mass layoffs swept across the nation, more and more kids (and families) needed help. School meal programs saw an immediate rise in meal service applications [FN2]
Teachers, school administrators and organizations across the country scrambled to feed the hungry. Making sure students were fed was the priority, and then they would do whatever it took to make socially distanced meal services happen.
Unprecedented Times
For most of us, the COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything we’ve ever lived through before. Everyone had to adjust to a new “normal” as stay at home orders were put in place, and often extended.
Traditionally, school meal programs had fairly-rigid requirements: all meals must meet certain standards and must be provided at specific times, as determined by the USDA. However, social distancing mandates quickly made those guidelines impossible to follow. Grocery stores were hit hard, and many schools struggled to find nutritious, prepackaged food that families could pick up quickly & safely [FN2].
Thankfully, the USDA released COVID-19 guideline waivers, which loosened the restrictions on where and how meals could be served [FN3]. The extra permissions gave schools more freedom in their methods of food distribution and allowed parents & guardians to pick-up kids’ meals every day.
Creative Solutions
In many communities, the solution was a simple pick up system. Teachers came in early — not to lesson plan, but to help cafeteria workers pack up meals – and then parents drove through whenever they could to pick up food. However, school officials quickly realized that more needed to be done.
Many parents working long hours found it difficult to pick up food. Children staying with elderly grandparents who needed to self-isolate were also unable to make the trek to the school. And because so many kids rely on school buses, driving to the campus was simply not an option for lots of students.
In response, counties have begun to innovate based on the needs of their people.
In some places – like Lynchburg & Loudon County, Virginia and Wayne Township, Indiana – teachers are loading pre-packaged meals onto school buses, which then drive their regular routes into students’ neighborhoods. This way, students only need to make it to a bus stop or a pre-determined location to receive their meals. Some counties have even begun sending school counselors on these delivery trips to make sure the students have access to mental and emotional health care, as well as the meals [FN1].
How Communities are Getting Involved
Thankfully, school systems haven’t had to respond alone. Communities are coming together to ensure that no child goes hungry.
In Honolulu, Hawaii, for example, one community college has expanded its cafeteria’s operations to provide 1,200 meals a day to children staying home from school [FN4]. Churches in East Tennessee have joined together to serve meals to families and deliver grocery store gift cards to homes in lower-income areas. Washington DC chef José Andrés even kept some of his kitchens open to offer discounted meals and free lunches to people in need [FN5].
No Kid Hungry, an organization dedicated to meeting the needs of food-insecure kids across the country, has also raised more than $15 million in COVID-19 relief. That money has helped provide over nine million meals a day to children in need throughout this pandemic [FN6]. They’ve also partnered with Save the Children and several celebrities to launch #savewithstories: a fundraising initiative on social media that is providing meals and books to kids in under resourced communities [FN5].
Click here to donate to No Kid Hungry.
So, What’s Next?
Unfortunately, we have no idea when things will go back to normal. While most states have now completely lifted restrictions, there are still many concerns about a second wave of COVID-19. As a result, some school districts are already debating whether or not they’ll open for the fall semester.
The government is also working to help parents provide for their families.
The USDA last extended the meals waiver until August 31, 2020 (today) [FN7]. Given the current state of affairs, we sincerely hope another waiver is in the works. Officials have stated they are committed to ensuring that all kids have access to free meals this summer, or however long they’re home from school [FN8].
Work requirements and time limits on SNAP benefits have also been temporarily suspended, allowing more people to benefit from the program [FN9]. Furthermore, Pandemic EBT is allowing funds from the Summer Meal Program to be deposited directly onto parents’ EBT cards, instead of going only to schools or youth centers [FN10]. This will hopefully help offset the cost of additional meals for families who don’t want to (or can’t) send their kids to summer programs.
However, it hasn’t all been seamless. Cafeteria workers, for example, have expressed concern about their personal safety. They are essential workers who have little to no form of personal protective equipment [FN11]. Going into the summer, schools are looking at ways to better ensure the safety of their employees during this time.
We do not know how long this will continue, but in the meantime schools, organizations and communities are doing whatever they can to make sure that no kid goes hungry during COVID-19.
If you or someone you know needs assistance, visit the Meals To You website to learn about available help in your district.
References
1. https://www.npr.org/2020/03/20/818300504/schools-race-to-feed-students-amid-coronavirus-closures
2. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/4/17/21220016/school-lunch-coronavirus-meal-programs
3. https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/covid-19/parents-and-guardians-waiver
4. https://www.fns.usda.gov/news-item/blog-supporting-local-farmers-feed-children-hawaii
5. https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/13/us/iyw-how-to-help-hungry-students-coronavirus-trnd/index.html
6. https://www.nokidhungry.org/blog/heres-how-youre-supporting-hungry-kids-affected-coronavirus-state
8. https://www.fns.usda.gov/news-item/usda-029320
10. https://www.fns.usda.gov/news-item/usda-028820