Increasing Access To Nutritious Food Through Summer Food Service Programming

These conversations pointed to the opportunity to offer programming not only to children but to engage full families in hands on activities, taste tests and cooking demos. While the meal program got families to the sites, engaging activities kept them returning.

– REAP Food Group

At a Glance

Nearly 1 in 5 children lack access to nutritious food in Dane County, a number that is nearly double the statewide rate and indicates the high need for food access interventions. Children are at an increased risk for learning loss and food insecurity during the summer months, especially low-income youth and youth of color. Summer programming that combines enrichment with good nutrition can help address these issues. The REAP Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) Expansion initiative was designed to implement and evaluate best practices for increasing participation in the SFSP. REAP is applying critical analysis to its past implementation and evaluation activities to ensure that it can continue to offer fun, interactive, substantive educational activities during the summer school break that will reach as many food-insecure youth as possible.

Evaluation results showed an overwhelmingly positive response to the program among both adults and children. Public awareness, families fed, and locally-sourced produce increased across the city through marketing and promotion efforts that REAP coordinated, which will be funded in part by the City of Madison moving forward. This project led to significant outcomes that demonstrated a potentially replicable model based on best practices for summer food programming and solid recommendations to further strengthen outcomes of this program.

The Challenge

Children are at an increased risk for learning loss and food insecurity during the summer months, especially low-income youth and youth of color. This can lead to an increase risk for excess weight gain and educational disadvantages during the following school year. A lack of system-wide collaboration slows large-scale systems change as well. Summer programming that combines enrichment with good nutrition is key to addressing these issues.

Project Goals

The predominant goal of this project was to increase nutritious food for Madison children through expansion and improvement of the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). This can be achieved in part by exposing children to more locally-grown fresh fruits and vegetables via the SFSP, increasing family awareness of the program, and making sites more welcoming and accessible. The REAP Summer Food Service Program Expansion initiative was designed to implement and evaluate best practices for increasing participation in the SFSP.

The objectives of this project were to increase the number of SFSP meals served city-wide, increase the quantity ad variety of fresh, local produce included in summer meals, open three City parks as free meal sites, engage an average of 150 children daily in Farm to School programming and to increase marketing and promotional materials advertising the program city-wide.

Results

Across all meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner), participation in SFSP across the city increased by 6.7%, that is, 12,742 more meals were served in 2018 over 2016, a rate of increase notably higher than in previous years. The increase in lunches served to children was slightly higher at 7.5%, and awareness of the program increased somewhat over the two summers of increased marketing. Park sites increased availability of the program to communities that faced access barriers to existing sites (transportation, children did not attend summer school or enrichment, not proximate to community centers) and the Farm to School programming and free adult meals incentivized family participation. The amount of locally sourced, seasonal fruits and vegetables in meals doubled during the 2017-2018 summers compared to previous years due to REAP’s focused assistance with procurement for MMSD.

This project fostered new partnerships and funding opportunities. In identifying, choosing, and operating the Southdale Park location, REAP developed partnerships with Joining Forces for Families, Rooted, Alder Sheri Carter, the Town of Madison and other local influencers. With the addition of Leopold Park and Centro Hispano in summer 2018, REAP established relationships with members of the Fitchburg Library, the Allied/Leopold Neighborhood Resource Team, Centro Hispano, and the new Roots4Change promotora cooperative that emerged from Centro. The City of Madison has included a $15,000 line item in the Mayor’s budget to support REAP’s summer programming. REAP has also secured sponsorships and grant funds to support program development and implementation for the UpRoot food truck, which is an increasingly key part of our Farm to School activities.

Looking to the Future

REAP is continuing its strong partnership with Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) to support and facilitate efforts to bring more fresh, healthy, and locally grown produce and products to schools and SFSP meals; they have already developed target goals to increase local procurement significantly by 2021. They are applying critical analytics to their past implementation and evaluation activities to ensure that they can continue to offer fun, interactive, substantive educational activities during the summer school break that will reach as many food-insecure youth as possible. Future funding for summer programming will come from continued support from the City of Madison, a new grant from the Wisconsin Partnership Program to deepen their partnership with Root4Change, as well as their diverse revenue portfolio of corporate and foundation support, organizational memberships, major gifts, and events.

Lasting Impact

This project led to significant outcomes that demonstrated a potentially replicable model based on best practices for summer food programming and solid recommendations to further strengthen outcomes of this program. The SFSP is a viable, effective option for reaching more low-income youth when implemented in public spaces adjacent to residential neighborhoods where youth already gather. Repeated exposure to and increased consumption of fresh, local foods combined with educational activities in a community setting demonstrate that behaviors in youth and adults can improve. Furthermore, offering the summer program at public parks -especially with widespread marketing and promotion to build awareness -is key to ensuring more high-need families can access the free meals, reducing food insecurity for youth and families during summer months.