The Minnesota Department of Education–in partnership with the USDA–is providing meals and snacks to support more than 200 schools at almost a thousand meal sites across Minnesota this summer. State Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker says the program is important because “we know that a nutrition gap exists for some of our students and their families during the summer months.” Ricker says last summer over 3.4 million meals were served in the state of Minnesota and we still have room to grow–that reached 19% of our children.” You can find out more about how to access the meals here. Here is more of MNN’s interview with the commissioner: