The noisy chatter of almost 100 children filled the cafeteria of
midtown’s Jefferson Park Elementary School on a recent morning. They
were a diverse, well-behaved bunch, sitting together in groups under
the watchful eyes of a few adults.

But these kids weren’t at school to learn. Instead, they were there
for a free breakfast that included an egg-and-cheese burrito
accompanied by orange juice and milk—including the tempting
choice of chocolate milk.

“More people are using this (summer) meal benefit to help them make
their household money go further,” observes Pamela Palmo, director of
food services for the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD).

Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered
through the Arizona Department of Education, the Summer Food Service
Program has included TUSD as a local sponsor for more than 25
years.

Funding is provided on a reimbursement basis: a base amount of
approximately $1.65 per breakfast and $2.85 for each lunch. Because of
those limitations, Palmo says the financially challenged district has
to be careful with its program expenses.

“We have to manage the program very wisely,” she says, “so we can be
reimbursed.”

All children 18 and younger can receive a free breakfast and lunch
during parts of the summer at almost 100 sites around town. Palmo says
TUSD operates 79 of those sites; 59 are in schools, with the remainder
at community facilities.

Palmo estimates the district will serve a total of 160,000 free
meals this summer. While TUSD employs an aggressive outreach effort to
achieve that large number, it still represents only a small fraction of
Tucson’s poor children.

The 2000 census showed more than 24 percent of the city’s children
live in poverty. Three years later, statistics for the entire Tucson
metropolitan area revealed that more than 43,000 children reside in
households which earned less than the federal poverty rate. A few years
ago, U.S. Census Bureau figures showed that at least 25,000 children
live in poverty within the city limits.

However, the Summer Food Service Program does help kids in need,
explains Camila Lopez-Pryor, Jefferson Park’s summer food services
program manager. “We have between 75 and 110 children for breakfast,
and 100 to 150 for lunch. Most of them are neighborhood kids from
families who need assistance.”

Lopez-Pryor, who also works at Jefferson Park while school is in
session, says she’s seeing the number of kids grow, possibly due to the
community’s stagnant economy. “A lot more children are coming to eat in
the mornings, even during the school year,” she says.

The food the children receive, Palmo and Lopez-Pryor agree, isn’t
the same stuff that was served a few decades ago—and that’s a
good thing. Summer Food Service Program sponsors like TUSD are provided
with planning menus that specify food-component groups and portion
sizes.

“It’s a healthier format,” Palmo says about this day’s lunch at
Jefferson Park, which included cheeseburgers, baked french fries, fruit
and milk.

The summer program at Jefferson Park ends on July 2 to allow the
school to prepare for the new school year that begins in August.
Lopez-Pryor says the school distributes an information sheet about
other food sources in Tucson to cover this period before school
starts.

“Hopefully, in that time, they’ll use the Community Food Bank,”
Palmo says.

The Food Bank is also involved with the summer food program.
According to Kip Patterson, the child nutrition program coordinator for
the agency, the agency serves about 300 children at breakfast and 700
at lunch each day at seven sites in rural Pima County.

The kids who use each site, Patterson indicates, have a lot to do
with the type of facility it is. “At the high schools,” he says of
sites in Marana and Sahuarita, “it’s high school kids for the most
part. Elementary school children use the other sites.”

Patterson says the number of children using these sites is about the
same as last year, but he expects increases in 2010.

“Next summer, they’ll continue to grow in Marana,” Patterson
predicts about the community, which has been hit hard by the economic
downturn.

Another summer-food option available for children is a privately
funded program operated by The Giving Tree, a faith-based organization.
At five Tucson apartment complexes, this effort is serving 250 meals a
day.

“We try to feed children first,” says program manager William
Parker, “but make sure any adults are fed also.”

Parker believes The Giving Tree’s project, which includes two meals
a day, complements the federal government’s Summer Food Service
Program. “We try to catch kids who might miss a meal at school,” he
explains.

Like Patterson, Parker sees the need for free meals for children
increasing over the next 12 months because of the community’s
deteriorating economic condition.

“I imagine there will be more kids next year,” Parker suggests.
“It’s unfortunate, but I think so.”

For more information, including a list of Summer Food Service
Programs, visit www.ade.az.gov/health-safety/cnp/sfp,
or call (800) 352-4558.

This article appears in Jul 2-8, 2009.