SACRAMENTO — The number of California children receiving summer meals in 2002 increased slightly, according to a study released today by the California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA), a statewide anti-hunger organization.

The annual report, School's Out ... Who Ate?, which uses data provided by the California Department of Education (CDE), coincides with a national release of summer meal data from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC).

"Every school child should have access to the food required to grow, to learn, and to lead a productive life," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. "Nutrition programs are dramatically effective in reducing hunger, improving school performance, and reducing behavioral problems, in addition to providing essential nutrition and improving the health of our children.

"Our summer lunch programs typically attach themselves to school and community activities," O'Connell continued. "That is why we need to pass the Governor's budget, with the revenue enhancements for education, as soon as possible. If we do not pass this budget, my concern is that additional cuts to summer school and local recreation programs will threaten the progress we've made in feeding hungry kids. These activities are the anchors for summer nutrition programs and we need to do more to ensure that kids are fed during the months when school is out."

The CFPA report examined whether the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) are filling the hunger gap created when schools are out of session. The report finds that 24 percent of eligible low-income children in California were getting nutritional assistance through either the School Lunch or Summer Food Programs during July 2002. A factor in this growth is California's participation in the federal Summer Seamless Feeding Waiver, which was implemented nationwide during 2002. This waiver allows schools and community-based sites to increase access to children eligible for summer meals.

"While this shows we have a long way to go, as three-quarters of eligible kids in California remained unserved in July, I am pleased that California experienced a 7 percent increase in the number of kids getting meals since 1999," said O'Connell.

Despite this large percentage of unserved children, national reports rank California as a leader in serving kids in the summer. While California is doing an exemplary job of feeding kids during the summer, school is not out in the summer for many of the state's children participating in food programs in July. California has a higher number of year-round schools than other states. More than half of the nation's children in year-round schools are from California. There are 1,591 year-round schools in 193 districts with a total enrollment of 1,391,573 students in this state.

"As we launch into summer, we should look back and evaluate California's progress at using the network of year-round schools, summer schools, and community-based sites to make sure hungry kids don't fall through the cracks," said O'Connell.

"One of the best opportunities to strengthen food access for low-income Californians is through reauthorization of the child nutrition programs proposed by Congress in 2003. We need to make it easier for community-based sponsors to operate nutrition programs by cutting red tape and making it simpler to feed children meals and snacks 365 days a year — not just when school is in session."

Copies of the report are available at http://www.cfpa.net/press/ (Outside Source). This site also contains: local data — county by county tables highlighting local participation as well as rankings of counties' effectiveness in reaching eligible low-income children with school meals; and local feeding sites -- links to local sites that serve summer meals, with contact information.