MASSENA — Add Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand to the voices asking for an extension of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s free lunch program for students.
After the Agriculture Department on Friday announced a final rule to move schools back to the higher quality pre-pandemic standards for school meals that were in the 2010 Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act, but give…
The Native American Agriculture Fund, the Food Research and Action Center, and the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative at the University of Arkansas joined together last week to release a wide-ranging report on food issues tribes faced during COVID’s first waves.
Food Research & Action Center President Luis Guardia said the anti-hunger group “is thrilled that the Biden administration has heeded the calls of anti-hunger organizations to address the growing hunger gaps in child nutrition driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Guardia continued, “We commend the administration for including provisions that ensure children have access to the nutrition they need year-round.”
FRAC said the plan would:
▪ expand Summer EBT to all students eligible to receive free and reduced-price school meals during the school year 29 million children and make the program permanent;
▪ increase the number of high-poverty schools participating in community eligibility, a provision that helps schools and school districts offer free school meals to all children;