Pandemic Meal Service – By the Numbers
Districts
Reporting
Million
Total Meals Served
Million
Meals Served to Children
Million
Adult Meals Served
COVID-19
The Urban School Food Alliance remains focused on helping to ensure students have reliable and consistent access to nutritious meals, and we are supporting our member districts as they transition their regular operations to meet the needs of this time of crisis. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds in our country, we are also committed to supporting our broader community and those who are helping to connect kids and their families to the food they need. We are sharing these resources with the hope that they will be helpful to community organizations and schools across the country. New resources will be added to this page as they become available.
School Nutrition
Resources
- USDA | USDA FNS Response to COVID-19
- School Nutrition Association | SNA Member Resources: Coronavirus Disease
- No Kid Hungry | COVID-19 Child Nutrition Resources
- Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education & Policy | Serving Students During the Coronavirus: Best Practices
- Urban School Food Alliance | COVID-19 Response Best Practices For Meal Service
- Urban Institute | Strategies and Challenges in Feeding Out-of-School Students
- Kaiser Permanente | Playbook for School Reopening
- Friends of the Earth | Healthier school food is key to fighting COVID-19 and systemic racism
- Urban School Food Alliance | Universal free meals explanation and benefits
Community
Resources
- UnidosUS | Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources (English and Spanish)
- UnidosUS | Explaining COVID-19 Relief for Latino Families (English and Spanish)
- Rockefeller Foundation | Coronavirus and Food Access: Four Questions Every Community Needs to Answer
- CDC | Schools, Workplaces & Community Locations (Multiple Languages)
- GovTech | A Resource Guide to Coronavirus for Government Leaders
- Pilot Light | Family Meals
Coronavirus:
In the News
KCRG: School lunches become the newest product facing a shortage during the pandemic
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - Food for school lunches has become the newest item facing shortages after supply chain issues related to the pandemic. The shortage is affecting schools across the country, along with schools in eastern Iowa like the Anamosa Community...
The New York Times: No Veggies, No Buns, Few Forks: Schools Scramble to Feed Students Amid Shortages
WASHINGTON — School officials in a Missouri city have been making twice-weekly runs to Sam’s Club to stock up on frozen pizzas and hot dogs. A Kansas school district ran out of vegetables for two days last month. And a district in St. Paul, Minn., has an emergency...
KCBS Radio: Schools struggling to provide meals to kids due to supply chain issues
Schools are struggling to provide meals to students across the country due to product shortfalls, delivery delays, and labor shortages, the crisis has drawn national attention because many low income children get the majority of their nutrition from school-provided...
The Urban School Food Alliance commends the Chairman Scott and the House Education and Labor Committee for investing in the health and wellbeing of our nation’s children
The Urban School Food Alliance would like to thank the House Education and Labor Committee, and particularly Chairman Bobby Scott, for the historic investment they have proposed in improving child nutrition programs. Taking action to expand community eligibility and...
Urban School Food Alliance Shares School Foodservice Challenges and Solutions With USDA
Urban School Food Alliance Requests Full Year Waivers
Dear Mr. Secretary: The Urban School Food Alliance, representing many of the largest school food authorities in the nation, sincerely appreciates the action you took on August 31 to extend several school food program waivers through December 31, 2020. The Alliance...
Urban School Food Alliance says “Please, sir, I want some more.”
“Please, sir, I want some more.” A phrase made famous by the title character of Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist may soon apply to millions of children across America when the emergency waivers for school meal flexibilities expire. Despite support from the Urban School...
Urban School Food Alliance Applauds the Pandemic Child Hunger Prevention Act
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2020 – Today, the Pandemic Child Hunger Prevention Act was introduced in response to the growing issue of food insecurity among school children. Because of COVID-19, an increasing number of households are facing various disruptions including high...
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The latest news and headlines from Urban School Food Alliance
San Diego Unified School District and Shelby County Schools Join Urban School Food Alliance
Nov 4, 2021
WASHINGTON, Nov. 4, 2021 – The Urban School Food Alliance, a coalition of the largest school districts in the...
CBS News: Supply chain disruptions impact school lunch programs across the U.S.
Oct 26, 2021
The U.S. school lunch system is feeling the impact of the nation's supply chain disruptions. Shipping bottlenecks...
NBC News: Supply chain issues hit school cafeterias, administrators scramble to make meals
Oct 26, 2021
Schools across the country are dealing with pandemic supply chain issues that are impacting how they provide...
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