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Secretary Fisher and Audrey Rowe Hold Roundtable on Summer Food Service Program in Camden
For Immediate Release: April 8, 2014
Contact: Lynne Richmond
(609) 633-2954
lynne.richmond@ag.state.nj.us听
(TRENTON) 鈥 樱花视频 Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher joined U.S. Department of Agriculture Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Service Administrator Audrey Rowe on April 7 for a roundtable discussion on ways to improve access to nutritious summer meals for children in Camden.
Last summer, the City of Camden Department of Human Services and Urban Promise Ministries, Inc. provided the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) at 126 sites in Camden.听 Rowe sought feedback from local officials on the issues and challenges facing Camden to providing more access to the program for local children.听 The program feeds students who receive free school meals with breakfast and lunch during the summer months.听 SFSP is administered by the 樱花视频 Department of Agriculture and is federally funded.
鈥淚 am traveling the country meeting with mayors and other local leaders to promote summer meals and it is critical in cities like Camden that we reach as many young children as possible who might otherwise go without nutritious meals this summer,鈥 said Rowe.听 鈥淲e appreciate Camden听and the state of 樱花视频鈥檚 efforts on their work to increase the number of sponsors and feeding sites available.鈥
James Harmon from USDA, Secretary Fisher and Audrey Rowe at the roundtable discussion
Attending the roundtable discussion were representatives from the office of Camden Mayor Dana Redd and the Food Bank of South Jersey, as well as other state and local officials.
Ninety-six organizations in 2013 participated in the Summer Food Service Program to provide nutritious meals to almost 58,000 children daily during the summer at 1,036 sites around the state.
The Summer Food Service Program reimburses participating organizations for meals served to children who live in areas in which at least 50 percent of the children qualify for free or reduced price meals under the National School Lunch Program.