Press Releases

Congressman Salud Carbajal (CA-24) is encouraging Central Coast families to take advantage of the expanded suite of federal nutrition programs available this summer for kids across California, including a new direct benefit he helped create through legislation passed in 2022.

The new suite of programs launched by the U.S. Department of Agriculture give families more choices and convenient ways to get summer nutrition support for their children and teens with the new SUN Bucks, as well as SUN Meals, and the previously-launched SUN Meals To-Go program.

“Even on the beautiful Central Coast, summer vacation is not always a welcome time for some of our children and families. The end of the school year can leave families struggling to make ends meet in limbo, with many school meal programs shuttering until the fall. That is what makes summer nutrition programs like SUN programs so critical to helping keep food on the table for thousands of food insecure families across our region,” said Rep. Carbajal. “I was proud to work with my colleagues to create and fund the SUN Bucks program in our last term, and I’m glad to see it launching this summer to support the California and Central Coast children who lack access to nutritious meals in between school years.”

“Nearly 30 million children participate in USDA’s school breakfast and lunch programs on an average school day, but when school is out, kids lose access to those vital meals,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “USDA’s SUN programs offer more options for families to conveniently access the essential nutrition children need to thrive, learn, and grow during summer and beyond.”

SUN Bucks provides $120 per eligible school-aged child for groceries this summer, a benefit that will be adjusted for inflation in future years.

More information on how California families can sign up for SUN Bucks can be found here.

Rep. Carbajal and his colleagues in Congress passed legislation in December 2022 mandating the creation of the SunBucks program, which is launching for the first time this summer.

In addition to the new grocery benefit, SUN programs also provide nutritious meal and snack services during the summer months to kids 18 and under in communities and among populations with high rates of poverty throughout the U.S.:

• SUN Meals are served at schools, parks, community centers, and other neighborhood locations. This long-standing in-person summer meal program has been available in communities since 1968. Meals are often provided along with enrichment activities to support children’s healthy growth and development.
• SUN Meals To-Go, launched in 2023, offers pick-up and delivery options in some rural areas when and where SUN Meals are not available.

SUN Meals and Meals To-Go are provided at locations across the Central Coast. A full map of locations can be found here.

More information on these summer programs can be found at www.fns.usda.gov/summer.

Rep. Carbajal voted to fully fund this and other nutrition programs for 2024 earlier this year.

These nutrition programs are part of the goals crafted by Rep. Carbajal and the Biden-Harris Administration at the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in September 2022, the first hunger conference hosted by the White House in half a century.