School nutrition experts say millions of U.S. children could go hungry this summer because the $1.5 trillion spending bill moving through Congress doesn’t include certain school meal waivers.
The meal waivers provide flexibility for schools in preparing and distributing food to students. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress allowed the Department of Agriculture to grant waivers to cover higher food prices and expanded options for delivery or pick up during remote learning.
“We need to do more and better to reach these families that need these services,” Brandon Stratford, a child health and development expert a Child Trends, a national nonprofit research group, told PBS. School nutrition advocates pushed for an $11 billion provision in the spending bill to cover higher meal costs and reimbursements, PBS reported. However, it wasn’t included in the spending package passed by the House on Wednesday.
“We all want to put the pandemic behind us, but what school meal programs face is nowhere close to normal,” Beth Wallace, the association’s president,“We desperately need these waivers to manage unyielding supply chain disruptions and labor shortages, cover rapidly escalating costs and remain viable to support our communities,” she said. “Congress’ failure to act will undoubtedly cause students to go hungry and leave school meal programs in financial peril.
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