FRAC Chat

Over the last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Census Bureau have released their respective annual reports on food insecurity and poverty in the United States.
The fact that rates of food insecurity did not increase in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic is a testament to the magnitude of the federal response to buoy households through unprecedented health and economic hardship.

This July, the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) and the Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC) released Child Nutrition Reauthorization: Strengthening Programs in Tribal Communities, a policy brief that outlines recommendations aimed at improving the impact of the federal Child Nutrition Programs in Indian Country through the Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) process.

The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act authorizes the federal child nutrition programs, which reach millions of children each day and support educational achievement, economic security, nutrition, and health. Although most of the programs are permanently authorized, about every five years, Congress reviews the laws governing these programs through the reauthorization process.
CNR presents a unique opportunity to improve federal policies that have exacerbated food insecurity in Indian Country. This can be done by focusing on supporting access to the Child Nutrition Programs for Native youth and incorporating Tribal sovereignty into efforts to improve program operations.

Millions of children eat school breakfast and lunch daily at schools across the nation. To better understand the far-reaching benefits of the School Nutrition Programs, The Rockefeller Foundation and The Center for Good Food Purchasing published True Cost of Food: School Meals Case Study in November 2021. The report used a True Cost Accounting methodology, which considers the multiple dimensions of a food product, program, or system, to examine the School Nutrition Programs.

This season marks the five-year anniversary of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria that hit the United States hard and gave rise to major recovery operations, including on the food relief front. There are some clear lessons from those operations that can inform disaster preparation and recovery efforts in the future.

For many students in Maryland, the back-to-school season is an exciting time of reconnecting with old friends, meeting new teachers, and shopping for school supplies. But for families struggling with food insecurity, the start of school may also bring an added sense of relief in knowing that their children will have access to a critical resource typically not available over the summer — healthy free school meals.