FLC | USDA Meals to You partnership delivers nearly 30M meals in COVID-19 response

USDA Meals to You partnership delivers nearly 30M meals in COVID-19 response

July 17, 2020

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue on July 16 lauded the achievement of the agency's Meals to You partnership, which at that time had delivered more than 28.5 million meals to the doorsteps of low-income kids in rural communities across America during the COVID-19 health crisis. Perdue announced the milestone during a visit to McLane Global, one of USDA’s partners in the initiative, which has served kids across 41 states and two U.S. territories.

“Meals to You is a prime example of USDA’s commitment to ‘do right and feed everyone,’ while leveraging private sector ingenuity with public sector funding. At the beginning of this public health emergency, President Trump made it clear we would only overcome these trying times if we came together as one America. These folks feeding kids in need here in Texas and across the country rose to the challenge,” Perdue said. “We’ve heard from families across America who have told us that in these difficult times, the program has been a home run for feeding hungry kids. We’re grateful to our partners for helping make that a reality.”

Meals to You is an innovative public-private partnership between USDA, the Baylor University Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, McLane Global, and PepsiCo. It began as a summer pilot project in 2019 but has been successfully leveraged as emergency Meals to You to address pandemic-related nutrition needs in rural areas.

Meals to You boxes are delivered directly to children’s homes via the U.S. Postal Service or another delivery service. Each box contains 20 nutritious, shelf-stable meals including 10 breakfasts and 10 lunches/suppers. In participating states, families with students who attend an eligible school or are eligible for free or reduced-price meals may opt-in to receive one box per child every two weeks.

The positive feedback from families cited by Perdue was evident in a letter from one Texan family participating in the program.

“We wanted to give you a big thank you in behalf of our family for this assistance,” the family said “Knowing that our child has options to eat different items that are healthy makes us very happy! With gratitude I write you this letter during this hard time that all of us are going through. It is good to know that you all are out there. Please stay safe and know you are making a difference in people's lives.”

The transition to remote learning necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult for rural families to make up for the nutrition their children could previously get through school meal programs.

“As a child nutrition partner to thousands of schools across the country, we see first-hand the impact this crisis is having on children nationwide,” said Belinda Oakley, CEO of Chartwells K12. “The Meals-To-You program reaches communities that need it most right now, so it’s a privilege to be a part of such an innovative partnership to ensure no child goes hungry during this challenging time.”

Denton McLane, Chairman of McLane Global, acknowledged the power of public-private partnerships in addressing hunger resulting from the pandemic and its economic repercussions.

“It has been humbling to see the impact that Covid-19 has had on all of our lives. We are grateful that we could take part in the USDA’s Meals-To-You program and be part of the response to this crisis," McLane said. "This is what we can accomplish when government and private business come together in the fight against hunger.”

Matt Smith, Senior Director of Food for Good, echoed McLane's sentiments about the power of partnership.

“COVID-19 has challenged all of us to expand our operations and partnerships to reach millions of American families who need support, and the Meals to You partnership is a testament to that," Smith said.