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6/6: USDA Deputy Undersecretary to Tour Innovative Summer Food Service Program in West Valley
What: Kicking-off the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) this year, USDA Deputy Undersecretary Janey Thornton will tour the SFSP operation at Wigwam Creek Middle School in Litchfield Park. SFSP fills the food gap for the thousands of low-income children who rely on school breakfasts and lunches during the school year to help keep hunger at bay. Children aged 18 and under can receive a nutritious, balanced meal—for free—at participating SFSP sites during the summer months when school is out. Arizona has made progress to increase SFSP participation, but still ranks dead last in the U.S. for SFSP participation relative to the number of low-income children who receive free or reduced priced meals at school during the school year.
When: Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 11:30 a.m.
Who:
• Janey Thornton, USDA Deputy Undersecretary
• David Schwake, Summer Food Service Program & Food Service Director for Litchfield Park Elementary School District
• Representatives from the Arizona Department of Education, Litchfield Park Elementary School District and local food banks
Where: Wigwam Creek Middle School, 4510 North 127th Avenue, Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
Visual/Photo Opportunities:
• Children eating a nutritious SFSP meal on one-of-its-kind an air-conditioned Litchfield Park Elementary bus that travels around the West Valley to feed as many children as possible this summer.
• Interview Janey Thornton, USDA Deputy Undersecretary who is in town especially to see this innovative SFSP concept.
• Interview Arizona Department of Education and Litchfield Park Elementary School District personnel who administer SFSP, and representatives of local food banks who help promote SFSP participation.
Coinciding with Deputy Undersecretary Thornton’s visit, the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) has released a special report, Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report 2011, which shows how SFSP is increasingly falling short of meeting the needs of low-income children. Nationwide, only 15% of students who depended on the school lunches during the regular 2009-2010 school year had access to SFSP meals in 2010.
Despite increasing SFSP participation 44.6% from summer 2009 to 2010, only 3.1% of students receiving school lunches received SFSP meals in Arizona. This ranks Arizona 51st in country, dead last behind every other state and the District of Columbia. Ultimately, the limited reach of the SFSP means that for the majority of those low income children, the end of the school year is also the end of the nutritious meals. It also means these children struggle to avoid hunger even more during our hot summer months when school is out.
View FRAC’s complete Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report 2011, including more data for Arizona, at www.frac.org. Please note the report is embargoed until June 7 at 8:00 a.m. EDT.
Operated in Arizona by the Department of Education, the Summer Food Service Program is a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Child Nutrition Program established to ensure that low-income children, ages 18 and younger, continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session. Free meals, that meet Federal nutrition guidelines, are provided to all children at approved SFSP sites in areas with significant concentrations of low-income children by schools, private non-profits and local or county governments.
Finding a SFSP site near you is easy: visit www.azsummerfood.gov for a regularly updated list of SFSP sites in Arizona and for more information about the program.
What: Kicking-off the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) this year, USDA Deputy Undersecretary Janey Thornton will tour the SFSP operation at Wigwam Creek Middle School in Litchfield Park. SFSP fills the food gap for the thousands of low-income children who rely on school breakfasts and lunches during the school year to help keep hunger at bay. Children aged 18 and under can receive a nutritious, balanced meal—for free—at participating SFSP sites during the summer months when school is out. Arizona has made progress to increase SFSP participation, but still ranks dead last in the U.S. for SFSP participation relative to the number of low-income children who receive free or reduced priced meals at school during the school year.
When: Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 11:30 a.m.
Who:
• Janey Thornton, USDA Deputy Undersecretary
• David Schwake, Summer Food Service Program & Food Service Director for Litchfield Park Elementary School District
• Representatives from the Arizona Department of Education, Litchfield Park Elementary School District and local food banks
Where: Wigwam Creek Middle School, 4510 North 127th Avenue, Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
Visual/Photo Opportunities:
• Children eating a nutritious SFSP meal on one-of-its-kind an air-conditioned Litchfield Park Elementary bus that travels around the West Valley to feed as many children as possible this summer.
• Interview Janey Thornton, USDA Deputy Undersecretary who is in town especially to see this innovative SFSP concept.
• Interview Arizona Department of Education and Litchfield Park Elementary School District personnel who administer SFSP, and representatives of local food banks who help promote SFSP participation.
Coinciding with Deputy Undersecretary Thornton’s visit, the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) has released a special report, Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report 2011, which shows how SFSP is increasingly falling short of meeting the needs of low-income children. Nationwide, only 15% of students who depended on the school lunches during the regular 2009-2010 school year had access to SFSP meals in 2010.
Despite increasing SFSP participation 44.6% from summer 2009 to 2010, only 3.1% of students receiving school lunches received SFSP meals in Arizona. This ranks Arizona 51st in country, dead last behind every other state and the District of Columbia. Ultimately, the limited reach of the SFSP means that for the majority of those low income children, the end of the school year is also the end of the nutritious meals. It also means these children struggle to avoid hunger even more during our hot summer months when school is out.
View FRAC’s complete Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report 2011, including more data for Arizona, at www.frac.org. Please note the report is embargoed until June 7 at 8:00 a.m. EDT.
Operated in Arizona by the Department of Education, the Summer Food Service Program is a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Child Nutrition Program established to ensure that low-income children, ages 18 and younger, continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session. Free meals, that meet Federal nutrition guidelines, are provided to all children at approved SFSP sites in areas with significant concentrations of low-income children by schools, private non-profits and local or county governments.
Finding a SFSP site near you is easy: visit www.azsummerfood.gov for a regularly updated list of SFSP sites in Arizona and for more information about the program.