In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Amherst resident Molly Gonzalez would head to the Mill River Recreation Area so her children could pick up free meals being distributed from the North Amherst site.
On Thursday afternoon, the children, Alyma, 12, and Mahali, 9, walked up to the Baby Berk 2 truck, each requesting and receiving the Korean barbecue chicken sandwich meal, an option prepared by University of Massachusetts Dining, that any child under 18 is eligible to get each weekday.
“They are UMass so they’re good meals,” Gonzalez said, noting the convenience in dropping by the place where numerous other children were swimming and playing. “It’s good they can see all their friends.”
The Gonzalezes were among more than 50 children, including many from the Mark’s Meadow Afterschool summer program, participating in the Summer Eats program, the state’s summer food service program that last year distributed 7.5 million meals. The Baby Berk 2 truck would be making eight more stops throughout Amherst, mostly at apartment complexes, between 2 and 6 p.m.
For U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, the program has become essential and he was among federal legislators who pushed for legislation, known as the Keep Kids Fed Act, that is ensuring such grab-and-go meal sites, administered by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, can continue to operate for school-age children from families of all income levels while on summer break.
Such locations became prominent at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as children learned remotely and couldn’t get meals in school cafeterias.
“It made sense during the pandemic. It makes sense after the pandemic,” McGovern said.
In 2020, Congress provided the U.S. Department of Agriculture the authority to issue flexibilities so that schools and meal program operators could continue to feed children over the summer. That had been set to expire at the end of June, which if it had would have limited options, such as requiring children to eat the meal on site rather than taking it to go.
“Tragically, childhood hunger only gets worse during the summer,” McGovern said.
McGovern said it is a moral outrage that any child has to go hungry, which is why he supports protecting and expanding the program so children can have three nutritious meals every day, even as one in five households with children is food insecure.
“We are a land of abundance. We have plenty of food for everyone,” McGovern said.
During his visit on what he is calling the Summer Food Rocks tour, McGovern boarded the truck to hand out meals to children that also included a hummus and vegetable wrap and even a handful of Caesar salads. He was joined by state and federal representatives, as well as Erin McAleer, the CEO of Project Bread, a leading anti-hunger organization in Massachusetts which, through its Child Nutrition Outreach Program, has partnered with DESE.
“This program is about making sure kids have meals during the summer,” McAleer said.
The federal legislation signed into law allows USDA to extend the flexibilities, provide a reimbursement rate increase to schools to help them continue serving children nutritious meals, and extend universal free meals over the summer.
McAleer said the funding allows any community in the state to run a program, all paid for through federal money. The more children who participate, she said, the greater the benefit to the community, including supporting local farms.
She expressed appreciation for UMass Dining stepping up two years ago to be a sponsor and continuing its role. At Mill River alone, 54 meals were distributed.
Chris Fisher, concessions manager for UMass Dining, said currently 250 meals per day are prepared, but that will be increasing to 425 later this summer.
Free school meals have been the number one source of free food for needy households throughout the pandemic. While one in five households with children is food insecure, one in three households of color with children struggles to afford enough food and relies daily on those free school meals.
State Rep. Mindy Domb, D-Amherst, said she understands the need from her previous role running the Amherst Survival Center. “We are the luckiest congressional district in the country,” Domb said.
Before being in Amherst, McGovern’s tour included lunch at Chestnut Hill Community School in Belchertown. Afterward, he would be going to dinner at Cristoforo Colombo Park in Worcester.
McGovern said there is still a lot more work to do, calling on the White House to launch a hunger conference, something that hasn’t happened since 1969. Doing so could lead to plans to put an end to hunger in the United States by 2030.
He is also encouraging every state to pass universal preschool breakfast and lunch and to get to universal breakfast and lunch for all children.
“The time is now to imagine a new system,” McGovern said.