School Closures During COVID-19: Opportunities for Innovation in Meal Service

Abstract

In 2019, the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program served approximately 15 million breakfasts and 30 million lunches daily at low or no cost to students. Access to these meals has been disrupted as a result of long-term school closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, potentially decreasing both student nutrient intake and household food security. By the week of March 23, 2020, all states had mandated statewide school closures as a result of the pandemic, and the number of weekly missed breakfasts and lunches served at school reached a peak of approximately 169.6 million; this weekly estimate remained steady through the final week of April. We highlight strategies that states and school districts are using to replace these missed meals, including a case study from Maryland and the US Department of Agriculture waivers that, in many cases, have introduced flexibility to allow for innovation. Also, we explore lessons learned from the pandemic with the goal of informing and strengthening future school nutrition policies for out-of-school time, such as over the summer. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print September 17, 2020: e1–e9. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305875 )

Parent Feeding Practices in the Context of Food Insecurity

“…Similarly, the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs are key safety nets for families. While federal policy has enabled these programs to continue during the pandemic, a lack of capacity among institutions that facilitate these programs has weakened implementation and reach [ 109 , 110 ]. For example, due to the pandemic, many early child-care and education programs that provide free meals through the CACFP had to close or terminate some staff positions, which resulted in a lack of capacity to facilitate meal distribution programs [ 109 ].…”

Universal free schools meals through the Community Eligibility Provision: Maryland food service provider perspectives

“…With the recent dramatic rise in poverty and hunger among households with children due to the COVID-19 pandemic, school meal programs serve an increasingly important role in feeding children. Because CEP schools were serving universal free meals prior to the pandemic, many were able to quickly adapt to COVID-19-related school closures by setting up emergency universal free meal distribution sites or providing meal delivery to all students at home (Kinsey et al, 2020). In light of ongoing COVID-19-related school closures, the USDA has authorized states to request waivers to serve universal free meals through the USDA Summer Food Service Program or Seamless Summer Option through September 30, 2021 (United States Department of Agriculture, 2020).…”

COVID-19-associated school closures and related efforts to sustain education and subsidized meal programs, United States, February 18–June 30, 2020

“…The wave of COVID-19–associated SCs during the second semester of the 2019–2020 school year (February–June 2020) was followed by the largest ever nearly simultaneous transition to various types of distance learning nationwide in lieu of congregating students and staff at schools. Responding to the unprecedented disruption to normal functions, US school districts swiftly mobilized distance learning programs and alternative feeding programs to preserve the continuity of education and services on which students and their families rely as recently noted by others [35]. Prior research supports the importance of continuity of education and the subsidized meal programs.…”