School meal programs provide an invaluable service for households that suffer disproportionate rates of food insecurity. The US Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as lacking resources necessary to obtain adequate, nutritious food for one or more members of the household at any time during a year. Access to school meals was jeopardized when the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in nationwide school closures. Although frontline employees of the school foodservice workforce continued to serve meals, limited research explores the different factors that affected access to school meals in rural, suburban, and urban areas. The aim of this mixed-methods phenomenology is to explore the lived experience of school nutritional directors and the impact of geographic region on students’ access to school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan.
Semi-structured interviews of nutrition directors at rural, suburban, and urban public-school districts in Michigan were conducted between 2022-2023. Atlas.ti qualitative software was used to analyze interviews and develop themes. Each participant also completed a Qualtrics survey that collected demographic and school meal participation data for the 2018-2022 school years. Relationships between geographic region, meal distribution model, and participation were examined using multivariate analysis.
Leveraging the Elementary/Secondary Information System (ElSi) database, school characteristics and geographic location were examined. Multivariate analysis remains ongoing. Preliminary themes that have emerged through qualitative analysis are challenges with supply chain distribution and staffing. Nutrition directors have also expressed support for universal free school meals, regardless of household income.
COVID-19 was a catalyst for exacerbated rates of food insecurity, but also enacted temporary policy changes that increased access for school meals across the country during this period. Understanding factors that affect food insecurity is critical to inform new policies that expand access to food, reduce rates of childhood food insecurity, and promote optimal development of school-aged children.
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