The Nevada County Library kicked off Lunch at the Library this week providing free summer meals for kids and teens in partnership with the Food Bank of Nevada County and the Grass Valley School District.
Many experience food insecurity in our families and with rising costs at the grocery store, access to healthy food is as critical as ever. In 2021, according to Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap, 9.8% of children under the age of 18 were considered food insecure in Nevada County. Food insecurity is defined by the US Department of Agriculture as a lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life. Public libraries are poised as the perfect community partner to assist in filling the gap when families and caregivers cannot rely on school lunches during the summer. The California State Library’s Lunch at the Library project offers cost support and toolkits to encourage library participation across the state, with funding provided by the US Department of Agriculture. Last summer, the Nevada County Library served a total of 4,156 free lunches in West County, closing the gap of access to healthy food in this community. “Providing lunches is an amazing service because kids can’t learn on an empty stomach!” stated a caregiver at last year’s Lunch at the Library.