Working to End Hunger in America

Raise your hand for the many school districts across the country that are stepping up to the challenge of fighting hunger in their schools by adopting community eligibility. Below are just a few model school districts that show how invaluable community eligibility and school meals are for students.

FRAC’s Afterschool Suppers: A Snapshot of Participation report released this week finds that in October 2017, 1.2 million children received an afterschool supper, an 11 percent increase from October 2016, and 1.6 million children received a snack on an average weekday. More than 46,000 afterschool programs provided a supper, a snack, or both through the Afterschool Nutrition Programs in October 2017.

Despite benefits generally agreed to be inadequate for a healthy diet through the month, SNAP helps lift millions out of poverty by increasing their purchasing power to afford adequate food. That’s according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), an annual report released by the Census Bureau. In September, the Census Bureau released the SPM as well as its report on income and poverty in the U.S., and the U.S. Department of Agriculture published the latest national rates of food insecurity. Collectively, the statistics vividly demonstrate how critical it is to continue to protect SNAP from proposed cuts.