Utah Food Bank Expands Summer Meal Services Across Southwest Utah

As summer break begins, the Utah Food Bank's Southern Distribution Center is stepping up efforts to combat food insecurity among children across Iron, Beaver, Garfield, Kane, and Washington Counties. “We do have a distribution center right here in southern Utah that takes care of the five southwestern counties,” said Jacob Miner, Director of the Southern Distribution Center, in a recent interview on the Big Picture Morning Show on KSUB radio.

Miner emphasized that summer is a critical time for families who rely on school meal programs during the academic year. “Summer becomes a challenging time for, you know, parents who struggle to meet needs and provide meals for their kids,” he said. To address this, the Utah Food Bank is operating over 60 Summer Kids Café sites statewide, with more than 215,000 meals expected to be served.

Locally, Cedar City’s Main Street Park offers weekday lunch service from 12:00 p.m. to 1:45 p.m., Monday through Friday, through August 8. Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult and are required to eat on-site. Miner explained, “On the daily meal kits, you do need to stay on site and finish the meal.”

7 Day Meal Kits Available In Utah Rural Communities

For families in rural areas like Beryl and Enoch, the Food Bank offers a weekly seven-day meal kit. Pick-up times and locations include:

• Enoch’s Boebert Park: Wednesdays, 10:15–11:00 a.m.

• Parowan Public Library: Tuesdays, 10:15–11:00 a.m.

• Beryl’s Escalante Valley Elementary: Thursdays, 9:15–10:00 a.m.

• Newcastle LDS Chapel: Thursdays, 10:30–11:15 a.m

These locations are chosen strategically. “We find parks that are close to schools that have high free and reduced lunches,” said Miner.

Read More: Iron County School District Has New Teen Center

The Utah Food Bank also collaborates closely with local partners. “The school districts have been phenomenal. Iron County has been just absolutely great to work with,” he noted. On the program’s first day, 140 meals were served in Cedar City alone.

With 38,000 Southern Utahns facing food insecurity—including one in five children—Miner urged residents to take part. “These meals are there because we know there’s food insecurity. If you’re struggling…please bring them to the parks every day.”

More information and a full list of sites is available at www.utahfoodbank.org/summermeals.

You can hear our entire discussion with Miner in the podcast below.