The Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) is offering free breakfast and lunch throughout the summer, a regular program but one especially important this year due to decreased federal food assistance. Kids and teenagers ages 18 or younger can find free meals at 11 locations around town, where adults pay $4.25 at breakfast and $6.50 at lunch.
The Santa Barbara Public Library on Anapamu Street is a popular lunch-only spot every weekday from noon to 1 p.m. On average, according to Youth Services Operator Holly Higgins at the library, around 60-70 kids come every day to get lunch. On the Monday that the first lunches were served, approximately 68 kids were fed, a “really good first day” to Higgins.
“We’re hearing some stories … of how relieved families are to be able to know that they have a nutritious lunch that they can give to their kids and take some of the pressure off of how hungry the kids are,” explains Higgins. “The library is a really trusted community space, and it’s one of the last third spaces that are just free to exist in.”
Families at the Public Library gather in the lower plaza on picnic blankets for the meals provided by SBUSD, which are different every day. Offering special events such as Lego Club, Wordsmith Wednesday, Guest Who? and more, the library is making lunchtime a fun experience. “It’s pretty special…. It’s something that the California State Library cares a lot about, that kids are getting healthy food and have a safe place to go during the summer…. There’s also some enrichment involved and learning,” Higgins explained.
The Santa Barbara Public Library offers lunches from June 15 to August 7.
At Santa Barbara High School (SBHS) on Anapamu Street, students are getting free meals as well. While the high school will only serve from June 15 to July 17, the SBHS cafeteria is where all of the summer meals are made. On Tuesday, about 5-10 chefs were at work in the busy kitchen, making whole-grain quesadillas, turkey sandwiches, and pork pozole, and cutting cucumber slices and cleaning baby carrot sticks. The weekly menu can be found at sbunified.org/resources/foodservices.
Matthew Dittman, SBUSD’s director of food services, explained that meals are typically balanced in five different components and follow nutritional restrictions that keep the meals healthy for kids.
Every location also offers a share-table, that gathers any uneaten food and offers more to anybody who is still hungry. These are kept sanitary and safe by separating each component of a meal using plastic bags, heated plates, and insulated casings.
Approximately 1,000-1,500 lunches are made in the kitchen every day in the summer and are delivered and served from there.
After the Trump administration’s eligibility requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or CalFresh in California, changed earlier this year, many people in Santa Barbara lost food assistance. According to the California Association of Food Banks, 55,000 Santa Barbara County residents rely on CalFresh, 40 percent of whom are below the age of 18, making food banks and free meal access a necessary resource for the community.
Dittman noted that the COVID-19 pandemic caused a decrease in the amount of people coming to the free meal sites, and in the years following they have been seeing fewer and fewer people come. Dittman and Ed Zuchelli, chief of communications at SBUSD, attributed this decrease to lowered enrollment in school and an overall decrease in kids in Santa Barbara due to the high cost of living. However, Dittman did note that so far in this year there have been slightly more people coming to the most popular locations.
SBUSD Summer Meal Locations & Schedules 2026
- Cleveland Elementary (6/22 – 7/31): Breakfast @ 8 – 9 a.m. | Lunch @ noon – 1 p.m.
- Franklin Elementary (6/15 – 8/7): Breakfast @ 8 – 9 a.m. | Lunch @ 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
- Harding Elementary (6/22 – 7/31): Breakfast @ 8 – 9 a.m. | Lunch @ 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
- Monroe Elementary (6/22 – 7/31): Breakfast @ 8 – 8:30 a.m. | Lunch @ noon – 1 p.m.
- La Cuesta (6/15 – 7/2): Breakfast @ 8:15 – 8:30 a.m. | Lunch @ 11:30 a.m. – noon
- La Cumbre (6/22 – 7/17): Breakfast @ 8 – 8:30 a.m. | Lunch @ 12:30 p.m. – 1 p.m.
- SMHS – San Marcos High School (6/15 – 7/17): Breakfast @ 8 – 8:30 a.m. | Lunch @ 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
- SBHS – Santa Barbara High School (6/15 – 7/2): Breakfast @ 8 – 8:30 a.m. | Lunch @ 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
- Oak Park (6/15 – 8/7): Lunch Only @ 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
- Ortega Park (6/15 – 8/7): Lunch Only @ 1 – 2 p.m.
- Santa Barbara Public Library (6/15 – 8/7): Lunch Only @ noon – 1 p.m.
