Healthy School Meals for All
As Seen on HBO's Last Week Tonight

FRAC Chat

Sep 09, 2024
Alexis Bylander, Interim Director, Child Nutrition Programs and Policy 

Back-to-school season is in full swing. Students and families across the country are meeting new teachers, adjusting to new classrooms and routines, and getting out backpacks and school supplies.

Along with pencils, markers, glue sticks and gym shoes, there is another back-to-school essential, healthy food to fuel student achievement.

Eight states — California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Vermont — have passed Healthy School Meals for All policies so schools can offer all students school breakfast and lunch at no cost to families. These policies reduce childhood food insecurity, stretch family budgets, and ensure all children are hunger-free and ready to get the most out of their school day.

Sep 06, 2024
Crystal FitzSimons, Interim President and Alexis Bylander, Interim Child Nutrition Programs & Policy Director

Organized by the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 is a “presidential transition project” that makes numerous policy recommendations that would negatively impact the federal nutrition programs as well as other critical federal anti-poverty, education, and health programs. The policy proposals would also weaken federal offices, departments, and regulatory agencies.
The over 900 page Mandate for Leadership 2025: The Conservative Promise includes 30 chapters, with . Chapter 10 detailing their proposals for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the federal nutrition programs:

Aug 29, 2024
Salaam Bhatti, SNAP Director

This August marks the 60th anniversary of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), A lot has happened in six decades. Find six key things to celebrate about SNAP.

Recent Publications & Data

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  • Advocacy Tool

    On September 18, 2024, FRAC Interim President Crystal FitzSimons testified in front of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research. The hearing, entitled “Keeping Kids Learning in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program,” is available to watch on the committee webpage. Read FRAC’s written testimony. 

    Read the testimony
  • Guide

    FRAC’s Guide to Federal Nutrition Programs During Disasters explains how federal nutrition programs work during disasters and what advocates, elected officials, and programs service providers can do to help meet nutrition needs before, during, and after a disaster.

    Read the guide
  • Report

    The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) is a critical program that provides people with low incomes, including women, LGBTQIA+ people, and their families with essential food assistance. SNAP helps ensure that women and LGBTQIA+ people can meet their basic needs and supports their well-being. But while SNAP plays a crucial role in alleviating food insufficiency for women and families, currently, there are barriers that prevent food-insecure women, especially those facing multiple forms of discrimination, from fully accessing and benefiting from SNAP. Learn more in FRAC’s updated 2024 research brief with the National Women’s Law Center, Gender and Racial Justice in SNAP.

    Read the research brief
  • Report

    FRAC’s Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report reveals a drop in the number of children receiving nutrition over the summer following the loss of pandemic-era waivers. Download the report to learn more. 

    Read the report