FRAC Chat

In early March 2024, USDA released their final two reports on the Summer EBT demonstration projects. The reports evaluated the last seven years of the program: the first report covered 2015 to 2018, and the second covered 2019 to 2022. These reports differed from the previous evaluations of the demonstration projects in that they did not include an experimental design to evaluate the impact of the Summer EBT benefit. Instead, these reports evaluated the implementation and administration of the grants and examined patterns in household usage.
These reports found that parents and caregivers appreciated Summer EBT and saw the program as a critical resource that helped fill nutritional gaps. They felt the program provided flexibility in where they could purchase food and allowed families to purchase more nutritious foods.

The Food Research & Action Center’s (FRAC) recently released report, The Reach of School Breakfast and Lunch During the 2022–2023 School Year, reveals that just over 14.3 million children received a school breakfast, and 28.1 million children received a school lunch on an average day during the 2022–2023 school year — a decrease of 1.2 million children in breakfast, and 1.8 million children in lunch compared to the 2021–2022 school year.

For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, school breakfast and lunch returned to normal operations for the 2022–2023 school year.

This week, March 11–16, we join the National CACFP Sponsors Association, program providers, and community partners in celebrating Food Program (CACFP). CACFP is a federally funded assistance program that provides reimbursements for nutritious meals and snacks to those in eligible child care and day care centers.
As we near closer to the release of the District’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget, it is imperative that community partners, program providers, and parents advocate for the ongoing funding for early childhood nutrition programs, especially CACFP.

This week, March 10–16, is CACFP Week!

The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) is joining the National CACFP Sponsors Association and other partners in raising awareness and celebrating the important role this program plays in combatting hunger and bringing healthy foods to children in child care homes, centers, and afterschool programs across the country.

Five states had Healthy School Meals for All policies in place during the 2022-2023 school year and the Food Research & Action Center’s (FRAC) new report, The State of Healthy School Meals for All: California, Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada and Vermont Lead the Way, highlights the positive impact they had on students and school nutrition departments.
School meals have always played an important role in reducing childhood hunger, supporting good nutrition, and ensuring that students can get the most out of their school day. For more than two school years during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools were able to offer meals to all students at no charge through the pandemic-related child nutrition waivers offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This served as a trial run for nationwide Healthy School Meals for All, and it was a resounding success.