Resource Library

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.

The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) urges Congress to enact legislation that supports and strengthens program access and participation by underserved children and communities; ensures nutrition quality; and simplifies program administration and operation. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of the federal child nutrition programs, and a number of policy improvements that were made during COVID-19 should be implemented permanently by Congress. Legislation should also maintain and build upon the critical gains made in the last child nutrition reauthorization. In order to achieve these goals, FRAC asks Congress to make the following improvements to the child nutrition programs.

Community roundtable discussions are effective and valuable tools to connect local advocates and stakeholders with their Members of Congress during congressional recesses and whenever Members are home. Combining a community roundtable with a site visit offers a unique way for Members to see firsthand the importance of programs, like summer meals, followed by a roundtable discussion that provides a diverse group of advocates and stakeholders a forum to engage.

The upcoming Child Nutrition Reauthorization offers Congress the opportunity to address school meals debt, which is a common problem for school districts across the country. School meals debt can occur when students who are not certified to receive free school meals arrive in the cafeteria without cash in hand or in their school meals account to pay for their meals or for the “reduced-price” copayment.

This primer examines the importance of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in improving the health, nutrition, and well-being of millions of senior adults (age 60 and older) struggling against hunger, and it summarizes opportunities to expand this vital program to reach more seniors across the country.

Federal tax credits, like the EITC and refundable CTC, provide critical supports for millions of working women, children, and families every year. They supplement low wages and can help soften the financial impact of fluctuating incomes or job losses. These credits are especially important for communities of color and women.

Includes: The Strength of SNAP and SNAP Action Needed; The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP); Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP); Child Nutrition Reauthorization

Restoring the value of the minimum wage — and helping families cover basic needs — is essential to addressing hunger. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour has not increased since 2009. A more adequate minimum wage would foster the nation’s economic strength and growth to be shared in more equitable ways. Low-income workers and their families would benefit the most from a higher minimum wage, leading to reduced poverty, hunger, and income inequality.

From FRAC, the Economic Policy Institute, and the National Employment Law Project.

More than 37 million Americans are living in households that are food insecure. Even as the economy has improved, millions of families have been left behind, and need food assistance. Congress should deepen its historically bipartisan commitment to programs that provide food assistance to vulnerable people with low incomes by protecting the structure of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the other federal nutrition programs, and by sufficiently funding them to address the prevailing need.

On February 1, USDA published a Proposed Rule on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Requirements for Able-Bodied Adults without Dependents RIN 0584-AE57. That rule, if adopted, would make changes to SNAP that Congress specifically declined to make in the recently enacted 2018 Farm Bill. The proposed changes would decrease state flexibility, harm local economies, and increase hunger. They should be rejected.

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

This fact sheet features graphics and information on “SNAP Action Needed:”

1. Congress should protect and strengthen SNAP — no cuts, block grants, or structural changes.
2. Congress should strengthen SNAP by passing H.R. 1276 — the “Closing the Meal Gap Act” of 2017 to: Base SNAP benefit allotments on the more adequate Low-Cost Food Plan; Boost SNAP benefits for families with children forced to choose between food and shelter; Boost SNAP benefits for older Americans forced to choose between food and medicine; Boost the SNAP minimum monthly benefit to $25 per month; and Ensure that jobless adults are offered employment and training opportunities before time limiting their SNAP benefits.

The House Budget is proposing to significantly cut the number of schools eligible to participate in the Community Eligibility Provision, a federal option for high-poverty schools to offer free school meals to all students. Under the proposal, over 8,000 high-poverty schools, enrolling 3.8 million children currently participating in community eligibility, would be impacted — roughly 40 percent of the 20,000 schools currently participating.

On July 12, 2017, the House Appropriations Committee voted out its Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Agriculture Appropriations Bill. In addition to setting spending levels on food and nutrition programs, the Committee also weighed in on nutrition standards, lunch shaming, and more.

Summer Nutrition Program resources to share with your constituent services staff in order to locate sites in your District and help ensure more children have access to nutritious meals this summer