Feed more kids? There's an app for that!

When kids receive the nutrition they need, we know that they are healthier, happier, and do better in school. One of the best sources of healthy meals are schools, however, not every student has access to school meals due to various reasons, including:

·         Economic barriers.

·         Lack of eligibility for free or reduced-price meals.

·         Fear of negative impact on immigration status (school meals do not impact public charge)

·         Stigma attached to free school meals.

·         School lunch debt and shaming.

Equal access to adequate nutrition is fundamental to equity. While hunger affects students of all ages, races, and ethnicities, food insecurity disproportionately affects students of color. School meals are a mainstay of food assistance and are a vital part of ending child hunger.

San Diego Hunger Coalition is a major advocate of school meals as a tool to end hunger. This is why we partnered with Nourish California, No Kid Hungry, and Code for America in the development of an online tool, Meals Count, that makes it easier for school districts to offer Universal Free Meals, so every student enrolled in a school receives free breakfast and/or lunch.

One of the ways that school districts can serve Universal Free Meals is through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), a special process school districts may use to receive reimbursement from the federal government for free meals served. CEP requires schools, or groups of schools within a district, to meet a certain threshold of families with low incomes that are participating in other forms of government assistance.

To put it another way, if 40% or more of a school’s students receive CalFresh or Medi-Cal, that school can be fully reimbursed for serving free breakfast and lunch to every child enrolled.

Many districts are faced with complicated math and calculations in order to determine whether or not schools (or clusters of schools) are not only eligible, but if it makes financial sense to participate in CEP. This is where Meals Count comes into play. The tool developed by SDHC, Nourish California, and Code for America allows districts to easily find the right combination of schools to feed the largest amount of kids with the least amount of financial strain.

The tool has been successfully field-tested by San Diego County school districts and is now being used across California and the nation! The success of the Meals Count tool is so great that Code for America will feature it as a centerpiece at their upcoming 2021 conference and San Diego Hunger Coalition has been asked to participate in the presentation.

A case study demonstrating the success of this powerful tool is forthcoming, so be sure to check back soon to see how a piece of software can be a powerful instrument for racial equity and ending child hunger.

Want to learn more? Check out this webinar, hosted by No Kid Hungry, that will
walk you through using the Meals Count tool!