Resource Library

An alarming number of children missed out on nutritious meals provided through the Summer Nutrition Programs last summer, according to FRAC’s latest report, Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report 2023. Download the report to learn more. 

The Food Research & Action Center and AARP Foundation collaborated with Dr. Rachel Zimmer of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and Dr. Kimberly Montez, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and conducted a survey to learn more about current efforts and promising opportunities for doctors, nurses, and other health care providers to address food insecurity among their patients 50 years of age and older. This report summarizes the findings of the survey responses from 144 health care providers. It also provides recommendations to enhance efforts by health care providers to address food insecurity informed by the survey findings.

Existing rules pose extra hurdles to SNAP for most low-income college students enrolled in higher education at least half time. The Enhance Access to SNAP Act (EATS Act) would put low-income college students on an equal footing with other people eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

The Closing the Meal Gap Act of 2023 (H.R. 3037/S. 1336), introduced by Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), would address the hunger cliff and improve food security and health by improving SNAP benefit adequacy for all participants. Learn more in FRAC’s new fact sheet. 

Read FRAC President Luis Guardia’s statement to the House Democratic Task Force on Agriculture and Nutrition in the 21st Century. Delivered at the Task Force’s 2023 Farm Bill Roundtable on July 13, 2023.

Older adults with low incomes and people with disabilities can receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for food purchasing. In 2020, over 5.3 million older adults, ages 60 and over, and more than 4 million people with disabilities received benefits through SNAP. Older adults and people with disabilities are also eligible to receive a deduction for their out-of-pocket medical costs through SNAP. Because high medical costs are one of the several barriers to having sufficient food to eat, older adults and people with disabilities are often made to choose between food and medicine. Learn more in FRAC’s guide. 

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 10.2% (or 13.5 million) of households were food insecure at some point during 2021. Families experiencing homelessness often face additional barriers to accessing food due to high mobility or lack of transportation. Homeless liaisons play an important role in ensuring that students have access to free school meals and referrals are made to provide the family access to food resources in the community. Learn more about supporting this population in FRAC’s new fact sheet, produced in collaboration with SchoolHouse Connection. 

Many large school districts across the country reported decreased participation in school breakfast and lunch when the nationwide child nutrition waiver that allowed schools to offer school meals to all of their students at no charge ended, according to FRAC’s latest report.

To better understand the impact of providing grocery benefits to families when their children lose access to free or reduced-price school meals and the experience families had in accessing benefits, the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) surveyed 153 parents and guardians who received Pandemic EBT benefits at some point during the last three years. Learn more about the survey’s findings in FRAC’s new report. 

During the 2022–2023 school year, there was a significant increase in the number of schools and districts participating in community eligibility. Learn more in FRAC’s latest report, Community Eligibility: The Key to Hunger-Free Schools, School Year 2022–2023.

Use this leave behind in your advocacy efforts to inform your Members of Congress about the critical importance of Healthy School Meals for All, and urge them to support key legislation.

Use this leave behind to inform your Members of Congress about budget and appropriations priorities for the 2024 Fiscal Year. 

Use this leave behind to inform your Members of Congress about the critical importance of SNAP, TEFAP, and other anti-hunger programs.

Use this leave behind to inform your Members of Congress about the critical importance of supporting the American Family Act, along with other essential improvements to expand the benefits of the CTC, Earned Income Tax Credit, and Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. 

Read FRAC’s new Summer EBT Program Brief, Looking Ahead to Permanent Summer EBT: Recommendations, to learn more about the program, how it provides a complementary approach to the existing Summer Nutrition Programs, and find ways to ensure Summer EBT success in 2024.