Promoting health equity through the National School Lunch Program in the United States

Schools are essential to meeting the nutritional needs of children, millions of whom rely on school meals for at least one meal each day. The National School Lunch Program is a federally assisted meal program that provides nutritionally balanced and free or low-cost lunches to children in schools in the United States (U.S.). During the 2018-2019 school year, about 28.5 million U.S. children received school meals daily, including nearly 20 million who received a free lunch. In March, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Shortly thereafter, schools across the U.S. closed their doors, and face-to-face instruction was suspended. To facilitate continued access to school meals during school closures, new policies and practices at the federal and local levels were put in place. Waivers issued by the federal government provided school districts with flexibility in distributing school meals safely during the pandemic. These flexibilities included: serving multiple days of meals at once, allowing parents to pick up their children's meals, distributing meals in parks or other non-congregate settings, and providing meals to all children at no charge. Meal pattern flexibilities were also provided. Although these waivers - and the tireless efforts of school nutrition professionals - were critical, they did not address all of the challenges related to serving school meals during a pandemic, including staffing shortages, supply chain disruptions, and transportation barriers. As the COVID-19 pandemic retreated and schools shifted to a hybrid model and eventually back to in-person instruction, school nutrition professionals had to repeatedly pivot to comply with the ever-changing guidance about preventing and reducing the spread of COVID-19 in schools. More than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, how have these policies and practices affected the National School Lunch Program and the nation's most vulnerable children? This presentation will provide an overview of school meal programs in the U.S. with a focus on policies, practices, innovations, and impacts before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.