Federal Food Service Program Underutilized

McClatchy (7/18, Pugh) reported, "Educators have long cautioned that students can lose much of what they learn in school during the three-month summer vacation" yet the "summer months can also mean an unhealthy vacation from good nutrition." According to McClatchy, "The Summer Food Service Program of the US Department of Agriculture was launched in 1968 to address these problems by providing healthy meals from June to August so students in low-income areas are ready to learn when school begins in the fall. However, the program, which reimburses sponsors for providing breakfast, lunch and snacks in impoverished neighborhoods, isn't reaching nearly as many youngsters as it could" as "only one in six eligible students...participated in a summer meal program in July 2009, according to the Food Research and Action Center."