Celebrating National CACFP Week

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By Clarissa Hayes, Deputy Director, Child Nutrition Programs & Policy

Published March 18, 2026

This Week is CACFP Week, a national education and information campaign to raise awareness of how the USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program works to combat hunger. Learn more here.

For decades, the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) has acted as a nutrition lifeline across the country, providing funding to support meals served at child care centers, family child care homes, afterschool programs, Head Start classrooms, emergency shelters, and adult day care centers across the country. By subsidizing the cost of nutritious meals and snacks at these locations, CACFP plays an important role in improving the quality of child care programs and in making them more affordable for parents with low incomes.

Research on the benefits of CACFP demonstrates its effectiveness in supporting good nutrition and acting as a marker of quality child care. But despite its many proven benefits, the program remains underutilized. Challenges facing the program, as well as the child care system, have resulted in the stagnation of the program at a time when childhood food insecurity is at a record high.

At a moment when families are facing rising food costs and many child care providers are facing federal budget cuts and struggling to stay in business, expanding and supporting CACFP is critical.

FRAC is excited to join CACFP partners across the country in celebrating this important program during National CACFP Week. Want to join us? FRAC has sample graphics and social media messages that can help you raise awareness of CACFP.

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Clarissa Hayes, Deputy Director, Child Nutrition Programs & Policy

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