FRAC Chat

From April 25–29, FRAC is celebrating Every Kid Healthy Week—spearheaded by Action for Healthy Kids—to spread awareness about children’s health and well-being.

Food security is one of the most important factors in determining the health of a child. It is more than just filling their bellies. Access to food supports healthy brain function, fuels children’s growing bodies and minds, and aids in emotional and social development.

With Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) benefits taken into account, SNAP benefit redemptions topped $125 billion in FY 2021, according to new data from USDA. That represented a 61 percent increase over the prior year.
The new retailer redemptions data underscore the important impact SNAP, temporary boosts to SNAP, and P-EBT have been having on mitigating food hardship and boosting economic activity during COVID-19.

Work around the 2023 Farm Bill is picking up. House Agriculture Committee hearings are already underway. Senate Agriculture Committee field hearings in Michigan and Arkansas are expected later this spring.

A recent Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Summit highlighted the important roles the nutrition title and an united rural/urban coalition will play in getting a Farm Bill passed by Congress and signed into law.
Join FRAC in educating policymakers and the public about the importance of SNAP and making investments for a strong nutrition title in the 2023 Farm Bill.

New data released by USDA indicate that 7 million people eligible for SNAP– or nearly 1 in 5– went unserved in an average month during Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2019.

“SNAP Gaps” in participation among eligible people are particularly pronounced for certain states and demographic groups. According to USDA analysis, just about half of eligible people participate in SNAP in some states.
More can and should be done to make progress in closing SNAP Gaps.

Have you heard the news? Ward 8 is getting two new grocery stores. But it’s not because of the Mayor’s Food Access Fund, the Nourish DC Fund, or any of the District’s other interventions to increase grocery access. It’s because the new redistricting map extends Ward 8 across the Anacostia River for the first time, and it includes both a Harris Teeter and a Whole Foods Market.
Redistricting occurs in the District every 10 years after the new Census data becomes available. The goal is to make the population of the wards more even. The 2020 Census found that more than 87,000 people had moved to Washington, D.C. in the past ten years, with Ward 6 experiencing the biggest population growth by 35.2 percent and Wards 7 and 8 both losing residents. The purpose of D.C. redistricting isn’t Congressional representation but rather to give the wards equal power within the DC government.