The coronavirus/COVID-19 has caught the United States and the world off guard. These are unprecedented times for the modern age. Based on current predictions for COVID-19, our country has not faced a more deadly epidemic in more than 100 years.
The call of the president, governors, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and leading epidemiologists is to practice social distancing, leading to the shutdown of society and schools across the country.
Many school districts resisted closing as long as possible because they know that without school many low-income children will not have access to regular, nutritious meals. Approximately 22 million students in the U.S. qualify for free or reduced-price school lunch and breakfast. These students rely on school menus for the nutrition they need for healthy physical, emotional and intellectual development. School meals are critical to minimize food insecurity among kids.
For COVID-19 related closings, the USDA is allowing schools/districts and nonprofit organizations in low-income areas to offer food under the guidelines for summer meal programs – the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO). (Read the USDA Policy Memo and FAQs on school meals and COVID-19.) During this time of emergency, the USDA is waiving the congregant-feeding requirement and permitting distribution of 5-day and 7-day meal boxes that can be picked up by families once a week.
The waiver is just the first hurdle for school foodservice in providing meals during coronavirus shutdowns. The sudden closing of schools left many school foodservice programs scrambling to shift from their regular school lunch menu to a USDA-compliant summer meals menu. While the SSO allows for standard school lunch menus to be served, those menus many not be conducive to grab-and-go service style required during these times.
To help school foodservice programs, NutriStudents K-12 has a COVID-19 Emergency Menu that is free for all Child Nutrition Programs (CNP), including the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). It includes 4 weeks (5 days each) of fully compliant menu options. The 2 weeks of hot and 2 week of cold meals can be packaged in to-go containers for distribution to kids. Because the summer meal program guidelines evaluate the nutritional content of meals by individual days versus full weeks, foodservice directors can pick and choose to prepare any of the 15 meals, in any order. The menu can be downloaded and shared from: MenuFreedom.com/COVID-19-MDA.
The next hurdle for school foodservice programs and nonprofits is the logistics of providing meals in non-group settings. Accustomed to providing meals at a central cafeteria, they have had to get creative to effectively provide nourishing meals to kids in these times. Thankfully, social service organizations, local restaurants and major corporations have stepped up to help.
Drive-thru meal pick up at schools are the most common means of distributing meals to kids during coronavirus shutdowns. That has limitations for kids who lack transportation, leading districts to set up mobile distribution sites at local parks, churches, apartment complexes and community centers. School buses are distributing food along limited routes in some districts.
Removing the daily logistics, Saint Paul Public Schools in St. Paul, Minn., is using school buses to deliver one full week of breakfast and lunch meals to kids at their regular school bus stop each week. The district is also offering home delivery to families who lack transportation or those with medically fragile children.
Providing school meals to kids in rural areas can be even more challenging logistically. The Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty and private sector partners have been granted USDA permission to distribute nearly 1 million Summer Food Service Program meals to children in rural America during COVID-19 shutdowns. Under the partnership, kids will receive weekly food boxes while schools are closed to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.
It is encouraging to see so many entities and interests coming together to ensure youth continue to receive nutritious meals during the COVID-19 national emergency.
If your district, school or nonprofit needs a menu that complies with the USDA guidelines for the Summer Food Service Program or Seamless Summer Option, download NutriStudents K-12 COVID-19 Emergency Menu today. Client relations advisers are available to answer your questions related to the menus and putting them into use. Use the chat feature on the website or email: customerservice@NutriStudentsK-12.com.
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