Summer can be the hungriest time of year for children facing food insecurity. Many students rely on free breakfast and lunch programs in their school cafeterias as a primary source of nutrition. Weekend Backpack Programs provide further nutrition by sending kids home with backpacks full of food each Friday. Everything changes when summer vacation begins. When schools close for the summer, students lose access to these programs for up to ten weeks. Summer can strain already tight family food budgets. Families typically spend more on food than they do during the school year.

This summer may be more challenging for Cambridge students who rely on summer food programs. Funding rules have changed. They now look at poverty rates in the neighborhood of a school, rather than for the city as a whole. And they assume that neighborhood children attend nearby public schools. But in Cambridge, school choice means that students frequently attend schools outside of their neighborhoods. A Cambridge school with a lot of students using free breakfast and lunch programs may no longer qualify for funding if that school is located in a more affluent neighborhood.

The city is working to reimagine its summer food program. As a community partner, we are looking at how we can help supplement their efforts. We are researching the possibility of expanding our free school markets and farmers markets. We are also looking at creative solutions that could keep our Weekend Backpack Programs running over the summer by partnering with local camps or even distributing out of community spaces where kids are likely to be in the summer.

Hunger does not take a summer vacation. Food For Free is planning ahead to ensure that the youngest and most vulnerable members of our community have the food they need to thrive, grow, and learn this summer. We believe that caring for the needs of our youngest residents tells them they live in a community that says “we see you, we care about you, and we want you to succeed.”