Baltimore’s COVID-19 Emergency Food Strategy responds to the city’s growing and changing need for food since March 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic forced the city into a state of emergency and key programs and services shut down—including Baltimore City Public Schools, which typically provides 90,000 meals daily to some 60,000 students.

From the outset need was great: Pre-pandemic, 70% of City Schools students participated in school meals and 1 in 4 residents participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Maryland’s food stamp program. As economic hardship deepened, so did demand for food. In response, a cross-agency team led by the Mayor’s Office of Children & Family Success leveraged hundreds of community, nonprofit, business and government partners; the city’s vast network of community-based programs and assets; ongoing map and data analysis; and existing municipal infrastructure to meet need. As of March 2021, the collective effort has resulted in distribution of more than 8.7 million meals and 730,182 food boxes across more than 300 sites.

Past Updates

Read the COVID-19 Emergency Food Strategy launch press release.

Read the COVID-19 six-month update press release.