Posted on Aug 23, 2022
One state chose to not use a federal option to serve free summer meals. Thousands of kids paid...
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There was plenty of food in the orange coolers full of free summer meals when a father pulled up, asking for two suppers to bring home to his children. But staff at the meal site in this rural community, where over 60% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, could not give the man anything.
That’s because Missouri chose not to opt in to a federal waiver that allows parents and kids to pick up meals and take them home, a pandemic-era benefit that vastly expanded access to meals.
Missouri was the only state that did not allow a grab-and-go option for its Summer Food Service Program operators, according to an exclusive NBC News analysis based on responses from all 50 states.
That’s because Missouri chose not to opt in to a federal waiver that allows parents and kids to pick up meals and take them home, a pandemic-era benefit that vastly expanded access to meals.
Missouri was the only state that did not allow a grab-and-go option for its Summer Food Service Program operators, according to an exclusive NBC News analysis based on responses from all 50 states.
One state chose to not use a federal option to serve free summer meals. Thousands of kids paid...
Posted from nbcnews.com
Children
Food/Chow
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 1
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., another sponsor of the Keep Kids Fed Act and chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, did not say whether she would back a separate bill, but said “I strongly support extending essential summer meals for children and look forward to including this funding as we work to reauthorize our child nutrition programs.”
“It is not OK that you have a program that is supposed to feed kids in the summer and it is only reaching 1 out of every 7 kids.”
Davis of No Kid Hungry urged Congress to make feeding kids a priority, arguing its return on investment shows up in health care, education and other areas of children’s lives.
She called the pre-pandemic format of the Summer Food Service Program insufficient.
“It is not OK that you have a program that is supposed to feed kids in the summer and it is only reaching 1 out of every 7 kids,” she said. “That’s just not good enough.”
..."Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., another sponsor of the Keep Kids Fed Act and chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, did not say whether she would back a separate bill, but said “I strongly support extending essential summer meals for children and look forward to including this funding as we work to reauthorize our child nutrition programs.”
“It is not OK that you have a program that is supposed to feed kids in the summer and it is only reaching 1 out of every 7 kids.”
Davis of No Kid Hungry urged Congress to make feeding kids a priority, arguing its return on investment shows up in health care, education and other areas of children’s lives.
She called the pre-pandemic format of the Summer Food Service Program insufficient.
“It is not OK that you have a program that is supposed to feed kids in the summer and it is only reaching 1 out of every 7 kids,” she said. “That’s just not good enough.”
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