FRAC Chat

The governor of Vermont, Phil Scott, recently signed the Universal School Meals Act (S.100). This legislation makes free breakfasts and lunches available to all students in the state for the 2022–2023 school year. Vermont is the third state to pass Healthy School Meals for All legislation, following California and Maine. Several other states are working to enact similar policies.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, schools have been able to offer breakfast and lunch to all students at no charge, allowing all children to experience the critical health and educational benefits associated with school meals. This was done through Congress giving the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nationwide waiver authority.   
FRAC spoke with Faye Mack, the Advocacy and Education director at Hunger Free Vermont, to learn more. Read her interview below.

On June 5, alongside FRAC’s Chief Government Affairs Officer Ellen Teller, FRAC’s Nomi Small, network and events coordinator, and Steve Hayward, senior communications coordinator, staffed an advocacy table in New York City at the West Side Campaign Against Hunger’s (WSCAH) inaugural ‘Rock the Block’ party. They describe their experience in the following blog. Follow the hashtag #FRAConTheMove on social to learn more about FRAC staff participation in state and local events throughout the year.

FRAC, along with other anti-hunger organizations underscored five priorities for the conference.  

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

Maria Judith Alvarez spoke at the White House’s Spanish language listening session. Her testimony has been translated from the original Spanish.

As soon as this fall, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Declaration (PHE) could end, and with it, boosts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. That looming “hunger cliff” threatens greater hardship for many in Maryland and across the country.
Despite being one of the wealthier states in terms of per capita income, hundreds of thousands of Maryland residents rely on SNAP to meet their daily nutritional needs. These same households with low-income struggling to put food on the table have felt their food and nutritional needs exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the increased need for assistance for so many residents, in March 2020, Congress enacted the Families First Coronavirus Response Act that provided for U.S. Department of Agriculture approving state requests to issue Emergency Allotments (EAs). SNAP Emergency Allotments increase SNAP monthly benefits in Maryland to the maximum allotment for households of their size and provide an extra $95 a month to the lowest-income SNAP households. SNAP EAs have been crucial in helping 701,000 residents put healthy food on the table.

More than 50 years have passed since the United States convened the White House 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 Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health will take place with the goal of ending hunger and reducing diet-related diseases and disparities in the U.S. by 2030.
FRAC, along with other anti-hunger organizations underscored five priorities for the conference.
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
Martina Santos spoke at the White House’s Spanish language listening session. Her testimony has been translated from the original Spanish.