The Food Research and
Action Center's report, «Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation,» said that nationally about 3.2 million children are enrolled
in summer nutrition
programs, compared with 15.3 million who receive free and reduced - price
lunches during the school year.
Effective food policy
actions are part of a comprehensive approach to improving nutrition environments, defined as those factors that influence food access.1 Improvements
in the nutritional quality of all foods and beverages served and sold
in schools have been recommended to protect the nutritional health of children, especially children who live
in low - resource communities.2 As legislated by the US Congress, the 2010 Healthy Hunger - Free Kids Act (HHFKA) updated the meal patterns and nutrition standards for the National School
Lunch Program and the School Breakfast
Program to align with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.3 The revised standards, which took effect at the beginning of the 2012 - 2013 school year, increased the availability of whole grains, vegetables, and fruits and specified weekly requirements for beans / peas as well as dark green, red / orange, starchy, and other vegetables.
The Food Research and
Action Center reported
in 2010 that, nationally, only one
in seven low - income students who relied upon the National School
Lunch Program during the regular school year had access to summer meals.