Otter Food Service to again offer broad summer meals in 2026

Otter Food Service said Fergus Falls families would again have a summer food option that reaches any child or teen 18 or younger who is registered, not just students already eligible for free or reduced-price meals. That broader reach matters in Otter Tail County, where school lunchrooms go quiet just as household grocery bills keep coming.

The program runs through Independent School District 544 in Fergus Falls, which serves about 2,500 students in west-central Minnesota. Otter Food Services also lists a Minnesota Free Meal Program for the school year, where it provides one free breakfast and lunch per enrolled student, per school day, underscoring how the district has become part of the area’s day-to-day food safety net, not just an education provider.

For summer, the local effort sits inside a larger statewide and federal system. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says free on-site summer meals are available for all kids 18 and under with no application needed. Approved sites can include schools, parks, libraries, community centers and other locations, and some rural sites offer meals to go. Minnesota was listed among participating states in the USDA Summer Meals Site Finder as of May 21, 2026.

For families whose budgets are stretched even when children do not qualify for school meal assistance, another layer of help is available through SUN Bucks. Fergus Falls Public Schools says the program provides $120 in grocery benefits per eligible child during summer break, delivered as $40 a month for three months on EBT cards to buy healthy foods.

Otter Food Services also identifies a Summer Off Campus Meal Program, and says program information may be available in languages other than English. That detail matters for families who need help navigating the options before the school year starts again, especially when the gap between lunch at school and food at home can be the hardest part of summer.