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(SFSP)
10.559
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) operates SFSP in partnership with State agencies and local organizations to provide free meals to eligible children during the summer months and at other approved times when school is not in session. USDA assists States through grants-in-aid and other means to conduct nonprofit food service programs for children through the SFSP.
This chart shows obligations for the program by fiscal year. All data for this chart was provided by the
administering agency and sourced from SAM.gov, USASpending.gov, and Treasury.gov.
For more information on each of these data sources, please see the
About the data page.
The current FY 2016 estimate projects 177.4 million meals, which would be a 5 percent increase above the FY 2015 estimate. FNS will focus on sustaining SFSP expansion through targeted efforts at the State and local level, efforts to improve access in rural and tribal communities. An increase in SEBTC funding in FY 2016 will help participating States reach the large number of low-income children who do not have access to SFSP and will enable FNS to evaluate whether SEBTC is a viable option to address childhood hunger during the summer over an expanded area. FNS focused on decreasing childhood hunger in the summer months through targeted assistance at the State and local level and efforts to improve access in rural and tribal communities. During FY 2016, 48,618 meal service sites provided 154.5 million meals to children. The number of meals served declined 5.5 percent from FY 2015. Compared to FY 1990, meals have increased 70.2 percent from 91.2 million. Approximately 57.2 percent of the meals served were lunches, 28.2 percent were breakfasts, and the remaining 14.7 percent were suppers or snacks. FNS awarded Summer EBT funding to 2015 grantees to continue and expand their efforts to reach more children in rural, tribal, and other areas of significant need. Grantees were approved to target benefits to over 250,000 children, nearly 90 percent more than were served in 2015.
During 2017, 151.9 million meals were served to children at 40,386 sites. In an effort to institutionalize successful strategies, FNS shifted from targeting assistance in focus States to promoting sustainable growth nationwide.
During FY 2021, about half of the meals normally served and claimed under the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs were served and claimed under the Summer Food Service Program. School lunches and breakfasts were served and claimed under the Summer Food Service Program, which distorts the normal meal forecast trajectory.
The current estimate projects 158 million meals to be served. This represents a decrease of 89 percent below the estimate for FY 2021, when summer meals were served outside of the traditional summer operating period in response to COVID-19, but an increase above the pre-pandemic level of service of 142 million meals in FY 2019.
The current estimate for FY 2023 projects 145 million meals will be served, which is a decrease of approximately 13 million meals (or 8.3 percent) compared to the estimate for FY 2022, but above pre-pandemic service levels.
FNS anticipates a total of 182 million summer meals served in 2024, an increase of 29 million meals (or nearly 19 percent) from the previous year.
FNS anticipates a total of nearly 281 million summer meals served in 2025, an increase of 98 million meals (or 54 percent) from 2024.
Single Audit Applies (2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F):
For additional information on single audit requirements for this program, review the current Compliance Supplement.
OMB is working with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and agency offices of inspectors general to include links to relevant oversight reports. This section will be updated once this information is made available.
