Resource Library

Congress has an important opportunity in 2020 to improve the health of millions of our nation’s children by passing a strong reauthorization that protects and strengthens the child nutrition programs. These successful, cost-effective federal nutrition programs play a critical role in helping children in low=income families achieve access to child care, education, and enrichment activities while improving overall nutrition, health, development, and academic achievement.

Resources for National School Breakfast Week, March 2–6, 2020.

Update for Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Stakeholders: Unpacking the Three Public Charge Rules seeks to provide anti-hunger and nutrition stakeholders with key updates on the status of public charge rules from three federal agencies — Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, and Department of Justice — that intersect with federal nutrition programs, particularly the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and actions that stakeholders can take to assist immigrants.

FRAC’s communications toolkit helps you spread the word about the benefits of school breakfast and strategies for increasing participation. The toolkit includes the reports, the national news release, a model news release for states, sample social media, and graphics.

This report looks at school breakfast participation and policies in 76 large school districts across the country to evaluate successful practices in reaching more low-income children with school breakfast. This is a companion report to the School Breakfast Scorecard.

This annual report analyzes participation in the School Breakfast Program among low-income children nationally and in each state and the District of Columbia for the 2018–2019 school year. The report features best practices for increasing participation in the program, including breakfast after the bell models and community eligibility.

This table shows the mandate(s) requiring all or some schools to offer school breakfast and/or school lunch in each state and the District of Columbia. Information about additional state funding and other legislation are also included in this table.

The “Reimbursement Rates and Income Guidelines for the Federal Child Nutrition Programs” chart contains rates and income guidelines for:

School Meals and Afterschool Snacks (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020);

Summer Food Service Program (January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020);

Child and Adult Care Food Program (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020); and

Income Guidelines for the Child Nutrition Programs (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020).

This brief reviews the many benefits of the school meals programs, and summarizes the latest research on recent policy changes and innovative strategies that are increasing program access and improving student outcomes.

The School Hunger Elimination Act of 2019 (S. 2752), introduced by Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), would make a number of improvements to the School Nutrition Programs, including increasing the number of low-income children who are directly certified to receive free school meals and bolstering community eligibility.

This brief will review food insecurity rates and risk factors among older adults; the connections between food insecurity and health among older adults; and the effectiveness of the federal nutrition programs in alleviating food insecurity and supporting health for this population.

ResearchWire is a quarterly newsletter focused on the latest research, reports, and resources from government agencies, academic researchers, think tanks, and elsewhere on food insecurity, poverty, the federal nutrition programs, and health.

This report reviews the varying practices included in 50 school districts’ unpaid meals policies, and highlights the need for a national approach to end school meals debt.

he Universal School Meals Program Act of 2021 (S. 1530 / H.R. 3115), introduced by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Gwen Moore (D-WI), would ensure that every child has access to free nutritious meals at school, after school, during the summer, and at child care through the child nutrition programs. These critical programs reduce childhood hunger, decrease childhood overweight and obesity, improve child nutrition and wellness, enhance child development and school readiness, and support academic achievement.

The Caregivers Access and Responsible Expansion (CARE) for Kids Act of 2019, introduced by Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), will help support children who are being raised by grandparents or relatives other than their parents by ensuring automatic access to free school meals.