Text "Summer Meals" to 914-342-7744 or call 866-348-6479
It’s summertime, the sun is out, schools are closed and children are ready for adventure. But for many families, summer can also mean the loss of access to the nutritious meals their children rely on during the school year. The SUN Meals Program (officially known as the Summer Food Service Program, or SFSP) helps close that gap by ensuring kids continue to receive healthy meals when school is out.
The SFSP is federally funded, state-administered and designed to fight child hunger and improve nutrition during summer months and school breaks. Through the SFSP, organizations across the country are reimbursed for serving free, healthy meals and snacks to children and teens in eligible areas.
Whether you’re a school, park, library, community center or faith-based organization, SUN Meals helps you make summer brighter for every child you serve.
Why the SUN Meals Program Matters
When school ends for the summer, millions of children lose access to the breakfasts and lunches provided through the National School Lunch Program. More than 20 million children rely on free or reduced-price school meals, yet only a fraction receive summer meals.
The SUN Meals program ensures that no child goes hungry just because school is out. By providing free, nutritious meals in safe, welcoming environments, communities can help kids stay active, healthy and ready to learn when school resumes.
Room for Growth
Millions of children are eligible for SUN Meals but have not been reached. Expanding participation is both a need and an opportunity. Your organization can help fill the gap and ensure more children have access to the meals they need.
Research Shows
- Summer hunger can lead to learning loss, lower concentration and health challenges.
- Children with access to nutritious meals are more likely to return to school ready to learn.
- Communities with active summer meal programs report higher family engagement and stronger child well-being.
Benefits of Participating in SUN Meals
- Combat Summer Hunger: Provide free, nutritious meals to children and teens when school is out.
- Promote Healthy Habits: Serve meals that meet SFSP nutrition standards and include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, meats/meat alternates and milk.
- Support Families: Help ease food costs for families during the summer months.
- Build Community: Bring children and families together in positive, supervised settings.
- Increase Program Impact: Strengthen your organization’s outreach and visibility while addressing a vital community need.
- Receive Federal Reimbursement: Offset food and operational costs through USDA funding.
Goals of USDA FNS to Feed Children During the Summer Months
In partnership with States, Indian Tribal Organizations, territories, community organizations, and other partners, FNS is working to:
- Increase food and nutrition security for children when school is out through effective implementation of all three SUN programs to ensure children have access to healthy meals throughout the summer.
- Promote holistic summer programming that combines access to nutritious food with recreational, educational, and other enrichment opportunities.
- Expand the reach of summer nutrition programs in rural communities across the country.
- Raise awareness of summer nutrition programs, including ensuring all families eligible for SUN Bucks have access to its benefits.
Sun Meals Program Overview
Who Can Participate
- Children 18 years and younger
- Persons over 18 who are enrolled in school programs for persons with disabilities
Site Eligibility
Be located in eligible areas (based on census or school data showing 50%+ of children qualify for free/reduced-price meals)
Types of service sites:
- Open/open restricted (serve all children in the area)
- Closed enrolled (serve only children in a specific program)
- Migrant (primarily serving children of migrant workers and provides appropriate certification)
- Summer camp (offers regularly scheduled food service along with organized activities for enrolled residential or day campers)
- National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) (children 18 years-old and under that are enrolled with college or university participating in this summer program)
Offer supervised meal service during summer months
Organization Eligibility:
Sponsors must be:
- Public School Food Authority (SFA), private nonprofit school, State or local government agency, private nonprofit organization, public or private nonprofit colleges or universities participating in NYSP, or public or private nonprofit camps
- Sponsors must provide year-round service to the community (except NYSP sponsors)
Required Training
Training is required for staff operating the Summer Food Service Program. Training includes meal pattern information, record-keeping requirements and civil rights compliance.
SFSP Meal Service
The SFSP meal patterns were designed for children ages 6 through 12 years old. Therefore, the SFSP meal pattern minimum serving sizes may not be suitable for all children attending the summer site. Active teenagers may need more food than younger children and may feel that the portion sizes are too small. Conversely, for children younger than 6 years old, the serving sizes may be too big. In these situations, sponsors may be approved to serve more age-appropriate portion sizes.
Up to two meal types can be served.
All meals and snacks must meet the SFSP meal pattern requirements. The SFSP meal patterns are designed to meet the needs of children and are based on the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs).
There are four meal components in the SFSP: grains/bread, vegetables/fruits, meats/meat alternates and fluid milk.
A creditable breakfast requires three meal components: fluid milk, fruits and/or vegetables, and grains/bread.
A creditable lunch or supper will include our meal components: fluid milk, two fruits/vegetables, grains/bread and meats/meat alternates.
Creditable snacks consist of two different meal components.
The meal pattern states the required minimum serving size for each meal component. You can serve more food if needed, but the reimbursement rate remains the same.
The meal pattern is component-based and supports proper nutrition by age group. It includes the following 4 meal components:
Grains/Breads
- Grains and breads must be whole grain or enriched or made from whole-grain or enriched flour or meal; ready-to-eat cereals must be whole grain, enriched, or fortified.
- Enriched macaroni products fortified with protein may count towards either the grains component or the meat/meat alternate component, but not as both in the same meal.
- Piecrust used as part of the main dish (i.e., for meat turnovers or meat pies) is allowed as a grain item.
- Non-sweet snack foods such as hard pretzels, hard bread sticks, and chips made from whole-grain or enriched meal or flour can be used to meet the grain requirement.
- Choose whole grains and whole-grain products when possible, to provide additional vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
Vegetables/Fruits
- At breakfast, a serving of fruit, vegetables, or full-strength (100%) juice, or an equivalent quantity in any combination, is required.
- For lunch or supper, serve two or more kinds of vegetables and/or fruits. Up to one-half of the vegetable/fruit requirement may be met with full-strength (100%) juice.
- Cooked vegetables mean a serving of drained cooked vegetables.
- Cooked or canned fruit means a serving of fruit, including the juice the fruit is packed in.
- Thawed frozen fruit includes fruit and the thawed juice.
- Dry, cooked beans, peas and lentils cannot be credited as both vegetables and meats/meat alternates within the same meal.
- Dried fruits, such as dried apricots, raisins, and prunes, may be used to meet requirements. Dried fruit is credited based on the volume served.
- Fruit sold within commercially prepared yogurt, whether blended, mixed, or on top, cannot be credited toward the fruit requirement. Extra fruit provided as a separate component can be credited.
- Small amounts of relish, ketchup, jams or jellies, or other condiments may be added as additional foods for flavor or garnish. However, these do not count towards the fruit and vegetable requirements.
- Serve a variety of fruits or vegetables. Serving two forms of the same fruit or vegetable in the same meal (for example: orange and orange juice, or an apple and applesauce) is not allowable. The two vegetables and/or fruit served at lunch and supper meals must be different from each other.
- Full-strength (100%) fruit or vegetable juice may not be served as part of a reimbursable snack if milk is the only other component served.
- Juice or syrup from canned fruit does not count as fruit juice.
Meats/Meat Alternates
- Meats or meat alternates must be served at lunch and supper.
- Meats or meat alternates may be served as part of a snack or as an additional item at breakfast.
- Dry, cooked beans, peas and lentils cannot be credited as both a vegetable and meat/meat alternate within the same meal.
- Meats/meat alternates with APPs should be accompanied by a CN label or have a Product Formulation Statement. Prior to being added to other products, Alternate Protein Products must meet specific standards. Before using products containing APP and claiming the meals for reimbursement, contact your State agency or your sponsoring organization.
- Nuts and seeds may fulfill the entire meats/meat alternates requirement for snack, lunch or supper.
- Children under 4 years old are at the highest risk of choking; nuts and seeds should only be served to young children ground or finely chopped in a prepared food, and nut/seed butters should be spread thinly on bread or crackers.
- For snack, 4 oz. or ½ cup of plain, sweetened or flavored yogurt may credit as 1 oz. of meats/meat alternates.
- For lunch and supper, 8 oz. or 1 cup of plain, sweetened or flavored yogurt may credit as 2 oz. of meats/meat alternates.
- Homemade yogurt, frozen yogurt (similar to ice cream) or other yogurt-flavored products (e.g. yogurt bars, yogurt-covered fruit or nuts, etc.) are not creditable.
Fluid Milk
- At breakfast or snack, milk can be served as a beverage or on cereal, or a combination of both.
- At lunch or supper, milk must be served as a beverage.
- In Alaska, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands of the United States, if a sufficient supply of such types of fluid milk cannot be obtained, reconstituted or recombined milk may be used. All milk should contain Vitamins A and D at the levels specified by the Food and Drug Administration and at levels consistent with State and local standards for such milk.
- At this time, sponsors following the SUN meal patterns may only serve non-dairy beverages in place of fluid milk in a reimbursable meal when it is supported by a medical statement signed by a licensed physician, health care professional or registered dietitian.
SUN Meals sponsors can determine their meal service model. Sponsors can:
- Prepare snacks and/or meals onsite.
- Procure (purchase) and deliver meals (vended meals) to SUN Meals sites.
SFSP meals and/or snacks must be served in a congregate setting, except if the site is designated as rural then it may be eligible to serve non-congregate meals. Meal service times must be established by the sponsor for each site, included in the sponsor’s application and approved by the State agency.
SUN Meals does provide for some meal service flexibilities.
- Sites can implement Offer vs Serve meal service for breakfast, lunch or supper.
- Sites can also implement pre-plated and family style meal service.
- Participants can take one meal component off-site. Must be either a vegetable, fruit or grain without prior State agency approval as long as all applicable State and local health, safety, and sanitation standards are met. Sponsors should only allow an item to be taken off-site if the site has enough staff to monitor the practice and ensure no food safety or Program integrity issues arise.
- Operators can implement the use of “share tables” which are tables or stations where children may return whole food or beverage items they choose not to eat, if it is in compliance with local and state health and food safety codes. Connect with your State agency for more information.
Sun Meals To-Go: Rural Site Meal Service Option
SUN Meals To-Go is part of the USDA's Summer Nutrition Programs for Kids, designed to ensure children in rural areas continue receiving nutritious meals when school is out. Unlike traditional congregate meal services, SUN Meals To-Go allows eligible children to pick up meals or have them delivered, offering flexibility for families in remote communities. To learn more about Sun Meals To-Go, visit SUN Meals To-Go (Non-Congregate Summer Meal Service) | Food and Nutrition Service.
Recordkeeping and Reporting
The site must track attendance and record meal counts. Use daily forms or approved electronic systems to document the number of meals served and daily attendance.
Each month, claims must be submitted for reimbursement. If you are working with a sponsor, the sponsor will submit claims to the State agency on your behalf.
- Agreement / Application
- Comply with State or local health & safety standards (check to see if State or local licensing or approval is required)
- Menu(s)
- Daily Attendance
- Daily Meal Counts
Joining Made Easy
1. Contact Your State Agency or a Sponsoring Organization
Contact your State agency or Sponsoring organization in your State to see if you can become a site that serves summer meals. They will help to see if you are located in an eligible area that can serve summer meals.