TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher and U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service representatives will help serve lunch to students at the Bridgeton High School on Friday, one of the sites for the New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service program.
Summer Food Service is designed to help ensure that children who receive free or reduced price lunch during the school year continue getting healthy meals during the summer. Secretary Fisher is calling attention to these feeding sites to increase the number of children accessing these vital resources.
The USDA reimburses participating organizations for meals served to children who live in areas in which at least 50 percent of the children qualify for free or reduced-price meals under the National School Lunch Program. New Jersey ranked sixth nationally in the number of summer lunches served in 2017, according to the annual summer nutrition report by Food Research and Action Center.
Most participating organizations may be reimbursed for up to two meals a day — lunch and either breakfast or a snack.
Fisher notes that many Summer Food Service sponsors have begun their programs or will be starting them in the first week of July and are available to students in their areas. Site locations can be found on an interactive map at https://www.fns.usda.gov/summerfoodrocks or by calling 1-866-348-6479.
— New Jersey Department of Agriculture