Just weeks ago, millions of students across the U.S. buzzed with anticipation, waiting for the final bell of the school year. When it rang, laughter and excitement spilled out from the classrooms, echoing into the hallways, until the kids burst into the warm early summer air. With each step away from school, some kids must have felt as though they were on trampolines, springing into summer break. Just past the school grounds were lazy mornings, endless adventures, and days that lasted as long as the evening light.
For far too many of those millions of children, however, something else awaits beyond the boundaries of their school building – hunger.
In 2024, nearly 30 million U.S. students participated in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). This makes the NSLP the second-largest nutrition assistance program in the country, second only to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The School Breakfast Program (SBP) served breakfast to 15.5 million children.
But what happens when school isn’t in session?
At the end of each school year, hunger among low-income and food-insecure children has historically spiked. Their ability to access consistent nutritious meals dwindles. One of the impacts is the summer slide: disproportionate learning loss among food-insecure children.
School meals are critical tools in promoting and protecting child development, education, and well-being. Research results continue to demonstrate that children who participate in school and childcare meal programs have better health and greater food security, achieve better educational outcomes and test scores, are more likely to regularly attend school, and have an improved diet. This is largely due to school meals being the most consistent and nutritious meals that many students consume.
To reduce the summer meal gap, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) operates a number of summer nutrition programs, primarily the Summer Food Service Program (SUN Meals or SFSP) and the Seamless Summer Option (SSO). In contrast to the participation of nearly 30 million children in the NSLP in 2024, an analysis showed that Summer Nutrition Programs reached just 2.8 million children in 2023.
However, in 2022 Congress passed a law that improved the existing SUN Meals program and permanently authorized a brand-new summer nutrition program – SUN Bucks (Summer EBT). As a result, nearly 21 million children received additional financial resources to purchase food throughout the summer.
Originally piloted in 2011, Summer EBT was offered to all states beginning in 2024. The expansion brought in 37 states, the District of Columbia, every U.S. territory, and two tribal nations as participants that year. Households with children who received free or reduced-priced meals received an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card that could be used at participating grocery retailers. Enrolled families received $40 per child per month, or $120 per child over the course of the summer.
In 2024, participation rates and economic impact varied by state, but the effectiveness of the program was steady. Researchers who evaluated the program found that the number of children skipping meals over the summer was reduced by a third. Participants in SUN Bucks say that the program is crucial to their family’s well-being in the summer. Joelanis Kercado-Martes, for example, says: “If it wasn’t for this program—these Summer EBT benefits that are being distributed to our family— we probably would’ve never made it, so I’m grateful from the bottom of my heart.”
Additionally, families who received these benefits were more likely to purchase and consume fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and dairy, and less likely to purchase artificially sweetened beverages.
Following these promising results, and data suggesting that SUN Bucks are effective in reducing child hunger during the summer, one would assume that more states, if not all, would be eager to participate in 2025. Instead, again, just 37 states and 5 tribal nations opted to participate. Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming chose not to make this program, funded by the federal government, available to the families and children in their state. Even more startling, Indiana and Tennessee participated in the program in 2024 and still elected not to participate in 2025. These choices exposed more than 1.3 million children to increased hunger and food insecurity.
Some states respond that they can’t afford the technology upgrades and administrative costs associated with joining Summer EBT. Others say that they can meet their children’s needs with their own meals programs. State programs may not be reaching everyone, given the large gap between the number of children who receive meals during the school year and those who access meals over the summer. In the end, it is a matter of priorities.
Several of the 13 states who chose not to participate in Sun Bucks this year also have higher-than-average rates of food insecurity. These higher food insecurity rates undoubtedly impact the children who live there.
Summer should be a time of growth, discovery, and joy for every child—not one of needless hunger and hardship. Yet by refusing to implement proven solutions like SUN Bucks, some states are choosing to leave vulnerable children behind. Policymakers must recognize that access to nutritious food is not a luxury—it is a fundamental building block of a child’s health, education, and future. Without it, children will suffer not just this summer, but well into the future.
With strong federal support and clear evidence of success, the path forward is visible to all. Participating in Summer EBT is the right thing to do, and it is time for every state to make the choice to adopt it.
Taylor Johnson is domestic policy advisor, Policy and Research Institute, with Bread for the World.
