Children 18 and under in the Jackson area can eat breakfast and lunch for free until July 12 thanks to the Jackson Public Schools’ Summer Feeding Program.
This is JPS’ 33rd year of hosting the program, which started on June 3.
Twelve JPS sites are offering the program. Serving times are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. for breakfast and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for lunch.
In an interview at Blackburn Middle School on June 10, JPS Executive Director of Child Nutrition Marc Rowe said the program is made possible through funding from the USDA.
“Nutrition is very important,” Rowe said. “In an urban school district like ours, there are food deserts throughout the city. So to provide breakfast and lunch during the summertime when students will be attending summer camps and summer schools, it’s very important.”
“In an urban school district like ours, there are food deserts throughout the city. So to provide breakfast and lunch during the summertime when students will be attending summer camps and summer schools, it’s very important,” JPS Executive Director of Child Nutrition Marc Rowe said on June 10, 2024. Photo by Shaunicy Muhammad
The meals are free but children must eat on-site, Rowe said.
The program will be closed for the Juneteenth break on June 17 and also the week of the Fourth of July holiday, July 1 through July 5, the JPS website states.
‘It’s Hard for a Lot of Kids to Get Meals’
The United States Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as the lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life, a Feeding America report explains.
Food insecurity is associated with numerous adverse social and health outcomes and is increasingly considered a critical public-health issue. Key drivers of food insecurity include unemployment, poverty and income shocks, which can prevent adequate access to food, the report continues.
For children, food insecurity has been associated with negative health, social, and academic outcomes, the USDA reported in 2017. “USDA school meal programs and other child nutrition programs are intended to improve food security,” the
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