Summertime can be a very busy time for families. With summer camp, little league games, and swimming lessons, families are always on the go. For families who are supported by school meal programs for breakfast and/or lunch while school is in session, affording enough nutritious food can be challenging and can have long-lasting impacts.
What are some of the potential outcomes when children don’t have access to enough nutritious food during the summer?
- Children are more likely to consume empty but filling calories that increase the risk of childhood obesity
- Students who do not get enough nutrition over the summer months are more likely to experience long-term health consequences than their more affluent peers
- Studies show students from families with low incomes experience a greater “summer slide” in academics than their peers, returning to school two months behind in reading
Just like families throughout southwestern Wisconsin, summer is also a busy time for Second Harvest and our network of 300+ food providers. As a result of the higher cost of just about everything, school meal programs taking a break for summer, and pandemic-era assistance ending, many of our partner food providers have reported a 30% – 40% increase in the number of families seeking assistance.
To meet this increase, Second Harvest is distributing more and more food every day. In recent weeks, delivering over 100,000 pounds of food per day to our network is not uncommon.
“People are excited, surprised, and thankful for the produce we have sourced from local farms. It’s been awesome to connect with our neighbors and bring fresh, nutritious items to their communities!”, says Jackson, Flexible Distribution Coordinator here at Second Harvest.
We are continuously expanding and diversifying our partnerships with schools, community centers, and other opportunities to provide support to southwestern Wisconsin kids and their families. Each neighborhood is a little different, and the challenges accessing food can vary, but we are focusing our efforts on equitably addressing the unique needs of each community.
We all have a responsibility to ensure that our young people have the resources they need to thrive. When we do, we’ll be taking a critical step toward creating a brighter future for our community.
