ATHOL — Americans typically embrace the spirit of the holiday season, and donations of food and other items often pour in during the winter months.
But hunger is most widespread in the summer, when school is out of session. Initiatives like the USDA’s national Summer Food Service Program aim to tackle this problem and help ensure students from low-income households are fed between school years.
According to U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, only one in every seven students receiving free and reduced-price lunches is enrolled in a summer meals program.
McGovern was part of a roughly 25-person roundtable discussion at Athol Community Elementary School on Friday as part of his fourth annual “Summer Food Rocks Tour” to highlight the national Summer Food Service Program.
McGovern, a Democrat who represents the 2nd Congressional District of Massachusetts, said statistics won’t improve until more awareness is raised and stigma is erased.
“We can all do without some things — food is not one of them,” McGovern told the gathering of school officials and community leaders in the school cafeteria.
Jeff Jobst, who runs Athol Summer Playground, a summer day camp of sorts, was unable to attend Friday’s discussion but Heather Bialecki-Canning, the executive director of the North Quabbin Community Coalition, agreed to relay messages from him. Bialecki-Canning said the food provided by the summer meals program has been wonderful and allergies and gluten sensitivities have been increasingly accommodated.
McGovern said there is a direct connection between good nutrition and a student’s ability to learn and retain information. He also said level-funding for school lunches and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits essentially acts as a cut.
“That school breakfast and school lunch is as important as a textbook,” he said before warning of potentially catastrophic cuts by the Trump administration. “I’ll be frank with everybody — I think we’re in for some rough seas, if these budgets are any indication of what will be appropriated.”
Maura Ackerman, the assistant director of programs of Project Bread, an organization that promotes sustainable and reliable access to healthy food for all, said meals programs combat summer learning loss and weight gain among children. She also said more than 10 libraries in Massachusetts have taken up the national Summer Food Service Program’s cause this year.
State Rep. Susannah Whipps, a Republican who represents the 2nd Franklin District, said these issues affect every locality, but rural poverty and urban poverty are two different beasts and should be addressed differently. She said transportation to places supplying nutritious food is more of an undertaking in rural areas due to dense populations and lack of public transit.
“We can’t use the same model Worcester would use or Boston would use,” she said. “One size doesn’t fit all.”
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com
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