SANTA ROSA — Summer lunch programs for students during the pandemic saw huge participation but pre-pandemic rules are back in place and numbers show it may be discouraging kids and parents from participating.
"They were bagged and each bag contained enough meals for a week per person, per child, I should say," said Cheth. The lunch program is sponsored by the USDA, and mid-summer last year they switched back to the pre-pandemic rules, requiring kids to eat the meal at the site during a 30-minute time period. At Monday's lunch, the kids sat in silence on hard plastic chairs.
The rigidity of the rules has had a dramatic effect. Maria Fuentes, manager of the"Every Child, Every Day" program, said, at its height, the Redwood Empire Food Bank 's summer food program served more than 150,000 meals."We've seen definitely a decrease in participation. It was great to have an option that families could pick up meals for their kids. Whereas now, we're kind of hindering that," said Fuentes.