Resource Library

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides low-income pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and children up to 5 years old with nutritious foods, nutrition education, and improved access to health care. Along with other social safety net programs, WIC is a buffer against the harmful impacts of economic hardship and is responsive to increased need during economic downturns in rural communities.

This guide is intended to help nonprofits working to end hunger get started in planning and carrying out simple, effective nonpartisan election-related activities.

Every day, school nutrition departments across the country provide healthy meals to children to fuel their minds and bodies. FRAC has a variety of resources to help school districts boost participation in school breakfast and lunch and implement strong afterschool and summer nutrition programs that maximize federal child nutrition funding.

FRAC’s resources for advocacy efforts supporting SNAP in the Farm Bill.

These interactive maps provide state-by-state data on participation in breakfast and lunch service through the Summer Nutrition Programs.

“The most successful summer meals sites offer educational and recreational activities that keep children engaged all summer long.”

Too many low-income children lack access to summer meal sites where they can eat, learn, and play.

“Serve breakfast instead of morning snack. Serve breakfast later in morning. Provide breakfast on weekends. Promote breakfast participation among sites.”

Many low-income children experience the “summer slide” — the loss of academic skills and knowledge over the summer. Enriching summer sites can help close the gap.

This report measures the reach of the Summer Nutrition Programs in July 2017, nationally and in each state. A companion piece, FRAC’s Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation: Summer Breakfast Status Report, focuses on summer breakfast participation.

This report measures the reach of breakfast through the Summer Nutrition Programs in July 2017, nationally and in each state. It is a companion piece to FRAC’s Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report, which focuses on summer lunch participation.

School meals programs provide children with the opportunity to receive the nutrition they need throughout the school day. Many households participate in school meals programs to ensure that their children are fed when they are away from home. There are various instances, however, when a household that is not certified for free or reduced-price school meals may not be able to pay for school meals. Reasons for the lack of money on the school lunch account can vary from a change in household income status, a misunderstanding of school meal procedures, or simply forgetting to refill the account. When this occurs, school districts should ensure that communication about the debt is held with the households and not the students. There are several effective strategies for outreach and engagement with households that have school meal debt.

This fact sheet, from the National Women’s Law Center and the Food Research & Action Center, describes how SNAP helps lift and keep low-income women and families out of poverty, and highlights how proposed changes to SNAP in the 2018 House Farm Bill would harm women and families.

The Afterschool Nutrition Programs fill the hunger gap that exists after school for millions of low-income children in rural communities. The programs, which include the Child and Adult Care Afterschool Meal Program and the National School Lunch Program Afterschool Snack Program, provide federal funding to afterschool programs operating in low-income areas to serve meals and snacks to children 18 and under after school, on weekends, and during school holidays.

The Summer Nutrition Programs can fill the hunger gap that exists during summer break for millions of low-income children in rural communities. Pairing summer meals with summer programs addresses the loss in learning that too many low-income children experience over the summer months.