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Summer meal programs feed kids, families across Pulaski County

From free breakfasts to community fridges to assistance with buying groceries, programs across Pulaski County are keeping kids fueled with healthy food over the summer.
Many students rely on free school lunches and breakfasts during the school year, so families can be left scrambling for options when school lets out for the summer. Local school districts, libraries and the state are working to fill the g.
Like free and reduced-price school lunches, summer nutrition programs are largely funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
One of those programs is Be Mighty Little Rock, run by the Central Arkansas Library System. Jessica Frazier-Emerson, the program’s coordinator, said Be Mighty reduces financial burdens for families, especially those with multiple children.
“It’s alleviating anywhere from $50 to $100 a week,” Frazier-Emerson said. “A lot of that money can go toward dinner or healthcare or paying bills and put families in a different financial situation than they might be otherwise.”
Arkansas continues to face some of the highest rates of food insecurity nationally. Around 19.4% of households experience food insecurity, according to a 2025 report by the USDA. According to Feeding America, one in four people facing hunger in Arkansas are children.
Stephanie Walker Hynes, the director of child nutrition for Little Rock School District, said free meal programs give children more opportunities to learn and grow.
“A hungry student cannot learn,” Hynes said. “If your stomach is not growling, you’re able to sit still. You’re able to absorb what’s being taught to you. You’re able to be a better friend and a better student.”
Multiple school districts across the county are offering free breakfasts and lunches to any child aged 18 or younger.
In the Little Rock School District, breakfast and lunch will be served at nine sites in the district in June and July: Chicot Elementary School, Gibbs Elementary School, Rockefeller Early Childhood Center, Stephens Elementary School, Central High School, Romine Early Childhood Center, Dunbar Middle School, Parkview Magnet High School, Southwest Magnet High School and the Lacey K-8 Academy.
Families can access meals even if their child does not attend school in the district, and no registration is required. Last year, the district served 54,414 breakfasts and 64,529 lunches over the summer, according to Hynes.
The Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District will be distributing meals through July 24. The program is available to all children ages 18 and under at sites including the Boys and Girls Club of Jacksonville, Galloway Park, Bayou Meto Btist Church, Mt. Pisgah Btist Church, Whit Davis Lumber, and locations on Max Howell Drive and Coffelt Road (Anderson Pointe).
The North Little Rock Public School District does not provide free meals to students over the summer, district spokesperson Dustin Barnes confirmed Monday.
The Be Mighty program at the Central Arkansas Library System is also open to all kids 18 and under. Families do not need to register, provide ID or even have a library card to access a fresh meal.
The program operates at the Children’s Library & Learning Center, Dee Brown Library, Fletcher Library, Main Library, Maumelle Library, McMath Library, Nixon Library, Rooker Library, Sanders Library, Terry Library and Williams Library.
Since USDA guidelines only allow the program to serve meals to children, Be Mighty also maintains five community fridges to provide food for the whole family. The fridges are stocked throughout the week with items from Potluck Food Rescue and leftover produce from local farmers’ markets.
When Be Mighty began operating in 2018, organizers only served shelf-stable meals, but in 2023, they began providing hot food and organizing crafts or events alongside the meals. These events help more children engage with all the services the library system offers, Frazier-Emerson said.
Frazier-Emerson said she wants to see more children participate. “Some of our sites have leftover meals, so the more students we can get in the slots, that would be great,” she said.
The North Little Rock Public Library System will be serving free meals at the Laman Library until July 31.
Families can also get extra help buying food through a state program called Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer, or Summer EBT, provided through the Arkansas Department of Human Services. Eligible families can receive a one-time payment of $120 per child to help pay for groceries. The money is distributed through pre-loaded cards, allowing families to spend the funds throughout the summer.
Last year’s program served around 324,000 children across Arkansas. School-aged children who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, or SN, are automatically eligible, as are many others. Families can determine eligibility by visiting Summer EBT on the state’s website..
Hynes said she is grateful the governor’s office ensured the state’s participation in the federally funded program for the third straight year. Some surrounding states, including Texas and Tennessee, do not participate.
“It’s always great because everybody doesn’t have transportation, since buses aren’t running in the summer,” Hynes said. “We just want to make sure a hungry kid is fed.”

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New Jersey health inspectors find Delaney Hall food premises ‘satisfactory’

Democratic members of Congress, who have conducted oversight tours, as well as the families of detainees, have described squalid conditions inside the facility — including limited access to medical care as well as worms and maggots in food. The Trump administration has denied claims of substandard conditions.
State health inspectors were allowed to tour the facility’s kitchens and food storage areas on May 28 and found the food service areas to be satisfactory, according to a report released by the Department of Health.
Overall sanitation and physical condition of the production kitchen and warehousing areas were observed to be satisfactory and free from signs of rodent or vermin activity at the time of this inspection, the report said.
In a statement to POLITICO, Department of Health Commissioner Raynard E. Washington said that it is impossible to form an accurate assessment and make a reliable evaluation without full access to Delaney Hall. Washington also underscored parts of the report that found that food temperatures were not propriate.
We were not able to fully inspect the facility because of the limited access provided to our health inspectors, Washington said. In terms of what we did see, we have real concerns about food cooling and reheating procedures and having a knowledgeable Person In Charge to ensure proper procedures are followed. Even more concerning is that we were not able to see the housing and medical units, where we were denied access.
Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill on Monday announced that she was given a limited tour of the facility, but was not allowed to speak with detainees. She called the tour unacceptable.
Department of Homeland Secretary Markwayne Mullin pushed back against Sherrill, saying he was not surprised by her claim.
On June 8th, I personally granted you access to the facility as an act of good faith — despite you having exactly ZERO federal oversight authority. Of course, you’re still trying to turn Delaney Hall into a political football for the radical left, he wrote on X. You were told BEFORE you went in you would not have the ability to speak to detainees. This is a federal facility, Governor. You are NOT federally elected.
According to records obtained by the New York Times, most detainees in Delaney Hall do not have criminal charges or convictions.
The GEO Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The perfect Bay Area music festival you’ve never heard of

Spoon’s Britt Daniel screamed Healdsburg! into the windy Saturday night darkness. The guitarist-frontman of the Grammy-nominated rock band — some might say the most consistently great rock band in America — shouted it three times, as if to remind us that we were not at that other Wine Country music festival, but at a far more intentional one in a field behind a community center in a Sonoma County town of about 11,000.
As the rainbow stage lights swirled overhead, casting Daniel’s shaggy blond hair into a purple flame, he lifted his guitar overhead and whipped into the first chords of Everything Hits at Once. The crowd of a few thousand roared back in preciation, just one of many moments at the Ramble, a grassroots music, food and wine festival now in its fourth year, that reminded me how I prefer my festivals: small and intimate.
The June 6 event was focused in every way that matters, from its one stage and $100 price tag to the 3,000-person limit. Five acts, including LA indie pop outfit Lucius and Nashville soul singer-songwriter Devon Gilfillian, spread out over eight hours. The scheduling made for thoughtful, unrushed sets. A half dozen high-quality eateries from around the region, like Mediterranean bar Valley, New American fave the Burrow, and pizzeria A16, meant good food that was fresh and served warm. And of course the wines: boutique, interesting and hyperlocal.
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At first I hesitated writing about the Ramble, but changed my mind for one critical reason: 100% of the festival’s proceeds go toward fighting gun violence. More people need to know about founders Noah and Kelly Dorrance, who lost their 9-year-old niece in a school shooting in 2023 and started the festival four years ago to help make stricter gun laws. They’ve since donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Giffords, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’s nonprofit. Previous headliners have included Lord Huron and Ziggy Marley.
We arrived after Salt Lake City’s Plastic Cherries and LA’s psychedelic cumbia punk outfit Tropica Magica wrped up their sets, making way for Gilfillian’s soul-drenched vocals. The singer-songwriter, who is slated to perform at the Independent in San Francisco this fall, played tracks off both his upcoming album Time Will Tell and 2023’s Love You Anyway before wowing the crowd with a pitch-perfect cover of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On.
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After scoping out the vintage clothing vendors and grabbing glasses of cold, crisp Preston vin gris, we made our way back through the chill crowd — a mix of pot-smoking old Healdsburg and youngish Coachella wannabes — to our lawn chairs in the grass. That’s when Lucius hit the stage. For the uninitiated, frontwomen Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig are a harmonizing powerhouse; they’ve sung backup for Harry Styles and Roger Waters and are in Joni Mitchell’s inner circle.
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Clad in matching bobs, cat-eyed sunglasses and long black fringe dresses, they whacked floor toms during some of the songs, adding booms to drummer Dan Molad’s rich percussion. The band, joined on stage by prolific guitarist Taylor Goldsmith of the LA band Dawes, played tracks off Lucius’ eponymous 2025 album — dubbed their best yet by Rolling Stone. At one point, Goldsmith wowed the crowd by ripping into an awe-inspiring take on the Grateful Dead’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond.
As the sun began to set and the wind picked up, we feasted on crab sandwiches and noodle bowls from Valley, easily my favorite restaurant and wine bar in Sonoma’s historic plaza and not the type of restaurant you’d normally find at a music festival.
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Then Spoon took the stage, and from the start, the Austin quartet was firing on all cylinders, responding to a hungry crowd singing along to all the greats like I Turn My Camera On and You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb. Toward the end of the nearly hourlong set, Daniel dedicated I Summon You, a ballad from 2005’s Gimme Fiction, to the Dorrances’ niece.
This is for Evelyn, he said solemnly, before the simple refrain — Got the weight of the world, I summon you here, my love — started sinking in, and we were reminded why we came together in this Wine Country town in the first place.

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Prices by brand and what to expect

Fresh dog food delivery services typically cost more than traditional kibble, ranging from $2 to $13 per day.
The price of fresh dog food is influenced by your dog’s size, the recipe, and the subscription brand you select.
You can save money by mixing fresh food with kibble, buying in bulk, or cooking fresh meals at home with a vet’s guidance.
Fresh dog food delivery services promise convenience and potential health benefits, but come at a higher price than traditional kibble.
Here’s what you can expect to pay, and how leading fresh dog food brands compare.
How much does fresh dog food delivery cost on average?
On average, fresh dog food delivery costs between $2 and $13 per day. How much you’ll pay depends on your dog’s size and calorie needs, as well as which brand and recipe you choose.
Fresh dog food delivery cost by brand
Compare the cost of fresh dog food by brand:
The Farmer’s Dog: $2–$11/day ($60–$330/month)
Ollie: $3–$12/day ($90–$360/month)
Open Farm: $5–$14/day ($150–$420/month)
Nom Nom: $6–$13/day ($180–$390/month)
These prices are based on online quotes for healthy, three-year-old dogs between 20 and 80 pounds. You can get your own quote by visiting each brand’s website.
What affects the cost of fresh dog food delivery
A few main factors affect how much your fresh dog food delivery will cost:
Food recipe: Organic or non-GMO ingredients, specialty meats and non-grain formulas can all raise the price of fresh dog food.
Caloric needs: Factors like your dog’s size, activity level and weight affect your pet’s portion sizes and your overall cost.
Subscription: The brand and subscription options you choose impact price, with some brands offering discounts when you enroll in recurring deliveries.
Is fresh dog food delivery worth the cost?
Fresh dog food can be a convenient way for pets to get the necessary nutrients, vitamins and minerals in their diets.
That said, it’s not the only healthy option for pet owners. World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) guidelines focus on choosing a dog food that offers a complete, balanced diet, rather than focusing on fresh vs. dry options.
Dr. Liza Cahn, veterinarian at Embrace Pet Insurance, says that while some pet owners report improvements in their dogs’ skin or coat after switching to fresh food, more research is needed to support health claims. For a healthy dog, the decision to pay a premium for fresh food often comes down to owner preference and budget, she says.
Fresh dog food vs kibble: Cost comparison
Fresh dog food is generally more expensive than dry kibble, though some premium kibble brands or prescription formulations can run higher:
Store-brand or economy kibble: $0.50–$1.00/day
Premium kibble: $1.50–$5/day
Fresh dog food: $2–$13/day
How to save money on fresh dog food delivery
There are several ways to incorporate fresh food into your dog’s diet without breaking the bank:
Buy in bulk: If you have multiple dogs (and the freezer space), purchasing food in bulk can provide more value by the pound.
Supplement your pet’s diet: Consider mixing fresh food with kibble, rather than switching to a 100% fresh food diet.
Cook fresh food at home: Try making food at home (under the guidance of a veterinarian) with ingredients like ground turkey, beef, brown rice and spinach.
Take advantage of deals and discounts: Many brands offer discounts for first-time orders or enrolling in automatic shipments.
Frequently asked questions
Why is fresh dog food so expensive?
Fresh dog food is usually more expensive than kibble because it is made with whole meats, grains and vegetables. It is also shipped frozen or refrigerated, which increases logistical costs.
Is fresh dog food cheer than kibble?
No, fresh food is generally more expensive than kibble.
What is the cheest fresh dog food delivery service?
Ollie and The Farmer’s Dog tend to have lower-cost options compared to other fresh dog food delivery services.
How much does The Farmer’s Dog cost?

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Here are the states with SNAP food restrictions going into effect this year

(Gray News) — The Trump administration is placing restrictions on grocery store items that can be purchased with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SN).
Information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lists 23 states that are restricting the purchase of non-nutritious items such as soda and candy.
The USDA called it a key step in ensuring that taxpayer dollars provide nutritious options that improve health outcomes within SN.
Each state has its own restrictions on SN-eligible foods, with some only opting to restrict soda while others are restricting candy, energy drinks, prepared desserts and more.
Each state has a different target date for implementing the new guidelines. Many target dates have already passed, while others are coming up this summer and fall.
The states that have proved restrictions for SN-eligible foods include:
Arkansas
Colorado
Florida
Hawaii
Idaho
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Louisiana
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
West Virginia
Wyoming
For information about exactly what products each state is restricting, visit the USDA website.
According to the Associated Press, SN is a major part of the U.S. social safety net, helping about 39 million Americans (about 1 in 9) buy groceries.
Beneficiaries decreased by nearly 4.3 million from January 2025 to January 2026, according to preliminary government data released by the USDA. Experts say new requirements, mandated by a massive tax and spending cut bill Republicans pushed through Congress last summer, are the primary reasons.

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Everything You Can Bring to the FIFA World Cup 2026

With the FIFA World Cup 2026 finally kicking off in cities across North America, fans from all over the world are pouring into stadiums around the country with hopes of seeing their team win the ultimate prize. However, attending World Cup matches requires a bit of research: FIFA has strict policies on what you can and can’t bring with you, including restrictions on water, food, bags and electronic devices. Below, I gathered everything you need to know about what to bring with you to the World Cup, including game day picks that fit the stadium standard.
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What to bring to the FIFA World Cup 2026
FIFA’s World Cup website and the Stadium Code of Conduct outline the dos and don’ts of game day, including lists of acceptable and prohibited items and behavior. Below, I rounded up a few items that fit FIFA’s requirements (however, be sure to triple check the policies website before heading out to any games).
Best clear stadium bag
All stadiums hosting the World Cup will have a strict clear bag policy in effect during the tournament, so it’s important to be strategic about your accessory choices. This Adidas bag fits all size requirements (it comes in at 7.87 inches wide and 6.69 inches high) and includes the official FIFA World Cup emblem on the front. It has two zipper closures and is made from a durable and water-resistant thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) material.
Best flag
Flags larger than 78 inches by 60 inches are prohibited from World Cup matches, making this option a great choice to represent your favorite team within the size requirements. It’s made from a durable, heavy-duty polyester canvas, and has a bold, bright coloring that’s designed to last through washes, according to the brand.
Best charger
Portable chargers under 4.7 inches by 6.7 inches are allowed inside World Cup stadiums, but they must be fully functional and not prone to overheating, according to FIFA. This compact charger from Anker fits the size restrictions and has a built-in USB-C cable, so you won’t have to bring one along with you. It also has extra USB-C and USB-A ports, so you can charge multiple devices at once.
Best sunglasses
Not only are polarized sunglasses great for protecting your eyes from UV damage, they also help to improve overall visual clarity and reduce glare. We chose these sunglasses as our pick for best overall polarized sunglasses because of their effective, scratch-resistant lenses and affordable price. They have a grip-coated frame that stops the glasses from slipping when you sweat, plus the frames have UV400 protection.
Best hat
UPF hats help to protect against sun damage, and this hat from Mission has a clean, minimalist design that looks good with any kind of match day jersey. It’s made from an absorbent polyester that becomes 30 degrees cooler when soaked in water, according to the brand. It’s also machine-washable and has an adjustable str.
Best sunscreen
This stick sunscreen is great to reply on the go (and perfect for days spent in the sun during World Cup matches). The mineral formula also makes it a great option for sensitive skin, plus it has microfine zinc oxide, which means it won’t leave a white cast, according to the brand.
More permitted stadium items
A soft, plastic 20-ounce water bottle that is factory sealed and disposable
Smartphones
Watches
Medical masks
Cultural or religious headwear
What you’re not allowed to bring to the FIFA World Cup 2026
Items prohibited from all 16 venues in the FIFA World Cup 2026 include:
Vuvuzelas, air horns, whistles and other excessive noise-making devices
Weons of any kind
Work tools of any kind
Food and drink of any kind (outside of a single water bottle and items purchased inside the stadium)
Body protection gear and helmets
Spray cans, corrosives and flammable substances
Sports equipment
Strollers, bicycles, skateboards and rollerblades
Non-transparent bags
Offensive or too large flags, banners and posters
Flagpoles and pom pom shakers
Radio-electronic or high frequency devices
Musical instruments or electronic sound devices
For a full list, check out FIFA’s Stadium Code of Conduct for the 2026 World Cup.
Frequently asked questions
Why trust NBC Select?
I’m an associate SEO reporter with over two years of experience covering travel accessories and parel, and an avid sports and music fan who’s been to countless stadium concerts and games over the years. To write this story, I researched FIFA’s policy on prohibited and acceptable items for attending World Cup matches.