FRAC Chat

Last month, the USDA announced a policy to improve equitable access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP by including discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the prohibition against sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

FRAC’s SNAP Deputy Director, Andrew Cheyne, was joined by Vicky Negus, Policy Advocate at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute to discuss the implications of this policy, and what else can be done to provide more equitable SNAP access for the LGBTQIA+ community.

On Tuesday, June 14, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a final rule updating Federal-State Agreements (FSAs) that are critical for ensuring civil rights protections in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The final rule, which was proposed by the Obama administration, will take effect on August 15, 2022. It reaffirms USDA’s commitment to ensuring “no person in the United States shall, on the grounds of sex, including gender identity and sexual orientation, race, color, age, political belief, religious creed, disability, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subject to discrimination under SNAP.”

Temporary COVID-19 SNAP benefit boosts are slated to end when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) Declaration is terminated. As a result, calls for congressional action to avert a looming “hunger cliff” are mounting.
On June 9, Representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA), Alma Adams (D-NC), Barbara Lee (D-CA), and more than 70 other House members signed a letter to House and Senate leaders warning of the impending harm unless Congress acts.

This week, the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) released its annual report Community Eligibility: The Key to Hunger Free Schools for the 2021-2022 School Year, which analyzes national and state adoption of the Community Eligibility Provisions by school districts and schools. The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) allows high-need schools to offer breakfast and lunch at no charge to all students on a four-year cycle. Learn more about the key findings.

More than 50 years have passed since the the White House convened a conference that helped elevate hunger as a national priority and sparked major improvements and expansions to the federal nutrition programs.

This September, the White House will host a Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health.
Now is the time to demonstrate with policy change and other actions that ending hunger in America remains a national priority.To ensure these priorities are put into the forefront during the conference, FRAC nominated several people to speak about their lived experiences with hunger during a series of virtual, regional listening sessions hosted by the White House. They shared their stories and recommendations during these sessions.

In a blog series, we will share the remarks of a few of the advocates who spoke during these sessions.
In this blog, Chelsi Rhoades, spoke at the Midwest and Mountain Plains regional listening session. Chelsi currently is an intern with FRAC and plans to launch a career focused on supporting the health and well-being of people struggling with poverty.