Download: Reimbursement Rates and Income Guidelines for the Federal Child Nutrition Programs (pdf)

Summer Food Service Program Reimbursement Rates
January 1, 2022 through December, 31, 2022

Sponsors receive the same reimbursement amount for each meal and snack served, but meals served at sites located in rural areas or that prepare their own meals (“self-prep”) are reimbursed at a slightly higher rate than other sites.

The number of meals that a site can serve each day depends upon how the site qualifies to participate in Summer Food. Sites that are located in low-income areas (where at least 50 percent of the children are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals) or that serve primarily low-income children (at least 50 percent of the children enrolled in the program are eligible for free or reduced-price meals) can provide a maximum of two meals a day. They can provide breakfast and lunch, breakfast and dinner, or a meal and a snack, but they cannot provide both lunch and dinner. Sites serving primarily migrant children can provide three meals a day. Camps also can provide three meals, but are only reimbursed for children who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.

Meals and snacks served in Alaska and Hawaii are reimbursed at a higher rate because of these states’ high cost of food.

NSLP Seamless Summer Option
July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022

Please Note: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued child nutrition response #85 which allows SFAs to serve meals to students at no charge under the Seamless Summer Feeding Option (SSO) during the 2021‒22 School Year (SY). In addition, the USDA issued child nutrition response #86, that provides SFAs that operate the SSO in SY 2021‒22 reimbursement equivalent to the Summer Food Service Program rural self-prep rate. Those rates are listed below.

During normal times, all the meals and snacks served through the NSLP Seamless Summer Option are reimbursed at the free rate. The rates in the chart are the lowest reimbursement rates. The lunch rates do not include the additional reimbursement schools receive for meeting the new nutrition standards or the 2-cent differential. The breakfast rates do not include the additional severe need funding. Schools that participate in the Seamless Summer Option continue to be reimbursed at the same rates that they received during the school year. For example, if the school receives the severe need rate for breakfast, it would receive it under the Seamless Summer Option. Follow this link to those reimbursement rates.

Under the Seamless Summer Option, sites can serve the same number of meals that they are able to serve through Summer Food Service Program (see above).

In addition, schools can operate the School Breakfast and National School Lunch Programs to feed children who attend summer school. These schools are reimbursed based on the students’ eligibility for free, reduced-price or paid meals. Those rates can be found

Meals and snacks served in Alaska and Hawaii are reimbursed at a higher rate because of these states’ high food costs.