Stacks of large, colored bins rose nearly to the ceiling of the multipurpose room at Meadowlark Elementary School on Tuesday.

Starting today, those bins will be filled with food and on the move to schools, parks and children across the city. With the economy in the dumps, schools statewide are expecting more children to take part in this year's federally-funded Summer Food Service Program, which offers free meals to children and meals for only a few dollars to adults at schools and parks during the summer.

This year, several new sites will open to children and adults, and four more school districts - --- Tooele, Emery, Park City and Washington -- have signed on to provide meals. Unlike during the school year, the program is open to everyone regardless of income level. Many of the sites -- a total of 175 statewide --open this week and next.

"There's really a need for it with the economy," said Elva Roberts, Tooele School District food services director. "When you think of kids going hungry, you think of kids overseas...When you work in this business you see how many kids actually go hungry, and it's kind of scary to me."

Last summer, sky-high gas and food prices drove people from all walks of life to the program, which served a total of 1.1 million meals and snacks, about a 5 percent increase over the year before. This year, some are expecting to serve anywhere from 5 to 10 percent more meals. The Salt Lake and Granite school districts

expect to dish out about 10,000 meals a day this summer, said Kelly Orton, Salt Lake director of support services.

Those two districts open many of their sites today, and a few of their schools started welcoming families on Monday.

Isabel Silva walked with her four children -- ages 2 to 9 -- to Meadowlark Elementary on Tuesday, where they enjoyed chili, chocolate milk, salads, cookies and apples.

"I'm not working now, so it really helps us," Silva said. Plus, she said she wants to help her younger children get used to going to school.

Blanca Hernandez, who took her two boys to the school Tuesday, said she also likes the idea of helping her children get ready for school by taking them there for lunch. She said being around other kids also encourages her 2-year-old son to eat healthy foods.

Education officials say the program isn't just for needy families -- it's for everyone. Last summer, middle-class moms and dads flocked to parks with picnic blankets and books to take advantage of the program and the outdoors.

"Sometimes people see summer food sites in the park, but they don't think it's for them," said Luann Shipley, director of child nutrition programs at the Utah State Office of Education. "It is."

Matthew Anderson, a child nutrition specialist at the state office, said everyone is encouraged to grab free meals for their children and cheap meals for adults.

"It's a way to encourage healthy eating habits," Anderson said. "It's a way to get kids out of the house and into the parks."

For the first time this year, the Park City School District will also offer free meals to anyone. To offer the summer program, schools generally have to have at least 50 percent of students receiving free and reduced price meals during the school year. One of Park City's schools now meets that threshold.

"I think the economy has hit us all hard," said Kathleen Britton, the district's director of child nutrition services.

On the flip side, the San Juan School District has had to cut its free summer lunch program. Though the federal government reimburses districts for the cost of the meals, some of the other costs were paid by the district, and San Juan can no longer absorb them because of budget cuts, said John Parkinson, the district's food service director.