During the school year in Arizona, nearly 650,000 meals are served at schools each day. Last summer, the Summer Food Service Program served 16,007 meals each day at schools and other sites. Meals are served at a variety of community sites, but many families do not know about the program.

Our staff and the Arizona Department of Education have teamed up to promote Summer Lunch Buddies so more of Arizona’s children eat these healthy meals when school is out.

Summer Lunch Buddies offers many ways for everyone to help promote summer meals . A new Summer Lunch Buddies toolkit is available with informative flyers, posters and other promotional materials to use to get the word out about the Summer Food Service Program. You can check out the new online interactive site locator where families can find a Summer Food Service Program site in their neighborhood.

The Summer Food Service Program is a U.S. Department of Agriculture Child Nutrition Program that was established to ensure that low-income children ages 18 and younger continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session. In Arizona, the Summer Food Service Program is administered by the Arizona Department of Education.

The Arizona Nutrition Network is a nutrition education and obesity prevention grant program that reaches individuals eligible for or receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The program is funded by USDA and is managed by the Arizona Department of Health Services through an agreement with the Arizona Department of Economic Security.