Nutritious Food and Education Help Fuel Summer

By Lisa Huynh, AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate

When schools are out for the summer, many children who rely on school lunches no longer have breakfast and/or lunch. Kids who come from low-income families may not have access to a meal every day. With the scarcity of food, kids are more likely to grab unhealthy choices, increasing their risk for obesity and diabetes. From June to August, the Feeding San Diego sponsors Summer Food Service Program sites to offer nutrient dense meals to kids 18 years of age and under.

The sites, which are open during the week, serve a complete meal with fruit, dairy, protein, whole grains and vegetables. An example of a complete lunch that is typically served is chicken teriyaki with brown rice, veggies, fortune cookie, fruit and milk as shown above.

In addition, the ten Summer Feeding Service Program sites located across San Diego’s North County provide bags of produce for families.

This year’s “Fuel for Summer” education includes fun events for kids to learn more about eating healthy. FSD nutrition interns provide interactive games, tasty recipes and samples of nutrient dense snacks for the kids to enjoy. Three booths are set up so kids can taste new recipes, interact with nutrition-related games and learn something new about nutrition. Recipes that are featured at the booths are available for the kids and family members to take home. The program will continue to offer over 400 meals to kids each week and over 500 bags of produce to families.