FRAC Chat

April is National Minority Health Month, a time to raise awareness about health disparities related to hunger and access to food that continues to affect people from racial and ethnic minority groups. It’s a time to encourage action through health education, early detection.
In the following video, Beverley Wheeler, director of D.C. Hunger Solutions, and Dr. Ana Caskin, pediatrician, and Associate Director of Community Pediatrics at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, discussed disparities related to hunger that impact minority communities and the correlation between trauma and hunger for children and their families. They also shared strategies used to maximize the impact of federal nutrition programs.

At the height of the pandemic, 285,000 New Jersey households did not have reliable access to affordable, nutritious food, according to a new report from FRAC, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). Black and Latino households were more likely to experience hunger at two to three times the rate of white households. This is just another troubling example of how the COVID-19 pandemic has exasperated the longstanding racial and ethnic disparities in the state, and across the country. Hunger and Its Solutions in New Jersey: Landscape Analysis of Current Initiatives, Recommended Action, and Emerging Opportunities for Further Investment  aims to inform stakeholders about what additional policies, systems changes, cross-sector outreach, and programmatic initiatives, if implemented in the coming years, would result in the most significant gains in food security.

The nationwide waiver authority that was made available to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) during the pandemic expires June 30 without Congressional action. To provide some flexibility and to help reduce unnecessary administrative work after the nationwide waivers have expired, the USDA has created a waiver checklist that allows state child nutrition agencies to opt into specific state waivers. That way, each state isn’t required to submit its own waiver request for each type of waiver.

On May 8, families across the United States will celebrate Mother’s Day. To celebrate, FRAC is shining a spotlight on The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to highlight the impact this program has in reducing food insecurity and nutrition-related health problems in pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood. WIC directly supports individuals who are low income and pregnant, postpartum, or breastfeeding, or have infants and children up to five years old, by providing nutritious foods, nutrition education, and improved access to health care. Here are eight ways that can maximize the impact of WIC and increase participation:

As the organization celebrates its 50th anniversary and looks forward to stepping boldly into the future, Racial, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI) is central to FRAC’s mission, which looks at building a country in which all people have the nutritious food they need to lead healthy and productive lives, through equitable and effective policies.

For Celebrate Diversity Month in April, FRAC staff shared “What REDI means to me.”  Below are ten testimonials.