Children’s advocates are sounding the alarm about the expiration of a program they say has been key to keeping low-income children fed during the pandemic.
Child nutrition waivers were created by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of March 2020, which gave the US Department of Agriculture the power to approve more than two dozen provisions allowing state and local organizations flexibility to run free meal programs during COVID-19.
Patty Barker, No Kid Hungry campaign director for the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, said the waivers are vital to the ongoing pandemic recovery.
“We already had a drop-off on meal participation during the pandemic because of the way kids were attending school, many of them virtually,” Barker observed. “The struggle will continue to reach those kids if suddenly there’s just a change, ‘Oh, well, let’s just drop off from pandemic to back to normal.’ “
About 65% of Arkansas children qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, according to recent data. The waivers are set to expire June 30. Waiver provisions include universal free meals for students and permitting parents to pick up food from school- and community-based sites to bring home to their children.
Crystal FitzSimons, director of school and out-of-school programs for the Food Research and Action Center, said if the waivers end June 30, it would dramatically impact the free Summer Food Service Program many families rely on when school is not in session.
“The grab-and-go meals would disappear,” FitzSimons pointed out. “The availability of it in communities of Arkansas, the sponsors would have a more difficult time operating the program, so we’d see sites have to close. Summer food sponsors would have to completely change how they operate their program.”
The Keeping School Meals Flexible Act, bipartisan legislation introduced in the House this month, would extend the waivers.
FitzSimons noted the hope is Congress will extend the waivers through the next federal funding bill, which must be passed by March 11.
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Statistics showed during the pandemic, the number of Utah families experiencing food insecurity grew, and advocates argued the state needs to take a leading role in finding solutions to the problem.
A bill working its way through the Utah Legislature would formalize a working group of stakeholders who meet periodically to exchange ideas and propose policies.
The legislation, which would consolidate an ad hoc coalition into a state entity with staff and funding, is pending before the Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee.
Alex Cragun, food security advocate for Utahns Against Hunger, said creating the State Nutrition Access Coalition (SNAC) would be a major step forward in addressing the problem.
“Reducing food insecurity and reducing hunger as a state is something that is doable, it’s actionable,” Cragun asserted. “There are several ways to approach it, and the first thing we need to have is a place to discuss that, and a place to prioritize that.”
SNAC would be under the auspices of the Utah State University Hunger Solutions Institute and would include agencies administering nutrition programs, public health officials and groups like the Utah Food Bank and Utahns Against Hunger. Cragun believes there is support for the measure, which could come up for consideration early next week.
The idea for SNAC stemmed from an informal coalition of advocates called the Task Force on Food Security, which met and made numerous policy suggestions during the 2021 session.
Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, put the task force together and is one of the movers behind formalizing the group. Cragun emphasized the state needs an organized effort to address food insecurity.
“Over the last two years, we saw food and security rates doubled to nearly one in five households,” Cragun reported. “That period of time will have a lasting impact on the children’s families that are impacted by that food insecurity. One in 10 households are still too high.”
Cragun added the formalized group would have staff support and continuity to develop program proposals and innovations. Food insecurity is defined as being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.
Disclosure: Utahns Against Hunger contributes to our fund for reporting on Hunger/Food/Nutrition, Livable Wages/Working Families, Poverty Issues, and Social Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.
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In the latest COVID variant surge, Ohio’s hunger-relief network is facing unique challenges. With missed wages due to illness, quarantining and remote learning for kids, struggling families rely on food banks across the state — and food banks rely on the support of volunteers.
In the early days of the pandemic, said Kurt Keiber, president and chief executive of the Freestore Foodbank in southwest Ohio, the Ohio National Guard helped fill in the gaps when volunteers had to stay home. Two years later, he noted, volunteer levels are still dramatically low.
“We have to have more space for the volunteers in order to keep them safe by socially distancing as well as setting up Plexiglas barriers between them,” he said. “But not getting enough volunteers in to pack boxes of food or sort through the canned goods from food drives has been a bit of a challenge.”
Some Ohioans on fixed incomes are turning to food banks because of higher energy, housing and food costs, as well as the end of the advanced expanded Child Tax Credits. Reiber estimated 75% of the families they’ve served at large-scale food distributions in the past two years have never before had to use a food pantry.
Keeping food-bank shelves stocked is another struggle, as Reiber said they’re also contending with rising food prices.
“A pound of hamburger has gone up over 50%; peanut butter has gone up 45% as far as overall cost,” he said. “So, that’s coupled with the supply-chain issues, as far as not getting the resources in, continues to drive prices up as well.”
Despite the setbacks, Reiber said the outpouring of support from the community has made a big difference in keeping operations going.
“Last year alone, when we would have spent about $800,000 on purchased food, we spent over $4 million on food, and that was something we hadn’t planned on,” he said. “Fortunately, the support that we received from our community allowed us to go out there and make those purchases, and restock the shelves of the families who we are serving.”
Reiber encouraged Ohioans to reach out to freestorefoodbank.org or their local food bank or pantry to volunteer their time or donate money if they can.
Disclosure: Ohio Association of Foodbanks contributes to our fund for reporting on Hunger/Food/Nutrition, Livable Wages/Working Families, Poverty Issues, Welfare Reform. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.
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At the beginning of the pandemic, Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services (DHS) waived numerous requirements to participate in the state’s food-aid program. Now, some lawmakers want to reinstate those conditions.
Before COVID, many people in Wisconsin’s FoodShare program had to meet certain work-search requirements.
Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point, lead sponsor of a bill to reinstate those provisions, said ending the waiver could help address worker shortages.
“Employers are desperate for workers, and so we are trying to get every able-bodied individual that we can off of the sidelines and back in the workforce,” Testin asserted.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wisconsin’s unemployment rate hit a record low of 2.8% in December, the lowest rate in at least two decades. Some social-justice and hunger-fighting groups oppose the bill, saying it would restrict access to important resources while many people are still feeling the pandemic’s financial impact.
The measure also would reinstate an 80-hour-per-month work requirement for childless, able-bodied adults. The DHS counts participation in a work-search program or other job-training initiative toward the 80-hour requirement.
Stephanie Jung Dorfman, executive director of Feeding Wisconsin, told a legislative committee last week the requirements fail to address underlying challenges folks face when looking for work.
“Mandating work requirements, especially as we’re still recovering from the pandemic, does not address the real challenges that many of our neighbors face when trying to engage in the labor and training market; such as access to accessible, affordable and quality child care and transportation,” Jung Dorfman contended.
The bill also would require FoodShare applicants to submit to drug testing and, if they test positive, to receive treatment. According to the DHS website, even without action from lawmakers, the food-aid waiver is set to expire at the end of September.
Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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