In response to the pandemic, Congress granted USDA the authority to issue several waivers to ensure children and teens had robust access to federal nutrition programs. At the peak, these programs helped reduce food insecurity to 1 in 8 households with children (12.5%) in April 2021 from a high of nearly 1 in 4 (23.6%) in May 2020.
Unfortunately, these waivers are set to expire at the end of the school year on June 30th, 2022. Without further action by state or federal government barriers to school and summer meals will return including requiring more than half of the students in the Commonwealth to pay a fee for school meals including 26% of food insecure households. This will have a significant impact on schools, families, and the health of our state.
Read Project Bread's full statement.
Feel free to reach out to Leran_Minc@projectbread.org with any question.