Friend,

If your schedule is anything like mine – especially during the
beginning-of-the-school-year scramble! – you may have missed this
opportunity to take action urging Congress to pass the Healthy Meals,
Healthy Kids Act this fall.

[ [link removed] ]→ Please take a moment to tell Congress: Because of rising food costs
and increasing numbers of food insecure families, the time is NOW to pass
the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act!

The recently released USDA annual food security report shows that hunger
fell in 2021 compared to 2020. [1] This reduction was due in large part to
the temporary expansion of federal nutrition programs last year, including
boosts to SNAP benefits, free school meals for all children, and
flexibilities to the WIC program that made it more accessible to more
families. Now that many of these pandemic waivers and expansions have
ended the number of hungry families in our country will rise again unless
Congress takes quick action to pass the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act.

[ [link removed] ]Let’s make sure that our Members of Congress learn from what worked in
2021 to reduce hunger by passing the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act!

Even though hunger fell last year, the report shows that 1 in 10
households in America still experienced food insecurity in 2021. The
report also shows that food insecurity rates in Black and Latinx
households last year were triple and double the rates of White households,
respectively. The Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act contains many provisions
that would provide food for these households and would address the unjust
racial disparity in food insecurity.

[ [link removed] ]Tell Congress: Take meaningful action to reduce the racial hunger gap
by passing the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act!

Together we are a powerful voice for children and families!

- Jessica, Elyssa, Hanna and the whole MomsRising/MamásconPoder team

P.S. – MomsRising and Mamás con Poder are talking to the USDA, HHS, HUD,
and more for a #FoodFri chat on Friday 9/23 at 1 pm ET all about the 2022
White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health happening on
Wednesday 9/28, including what to expect and how families can get
involved! RT, help us spread the word, and join us for this conversation
on Twitter."

References:

[1] [ [link removed] ]Statistical Supplement to Household Food Security in the United
States in 2021

 

---------- Forwarded message ---------
Date: Aug 17, 2022, 6:11 p.m.
From: "Jessica, MomsRising" ([email protected])
To: Friend
Subject: Friend, tell Congress to seize this opportunity to
reduce childhood hunger!

 


Many moms know first hand how difficult it is for children to grow and
learn when they are hungry.
[ [link removed] ]Take Action Now
[ [link removed] ]TAKE ACTION

Dear Friend,

Free school meals for all children, which have been in place for the past
two years because of the pandemic, are ending next month. And, at the same
time, gas, rent, and grocery costs are soaring. This combination of events
is leading to a hunger crisis that will only worsen next month, and is
already propelling many families to visit food pantries for the first time
and others to have to rely on food pantries even more. [ [link removed] ] 

Luckily, the House Committee on Education and Labor has released the
Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act, which offers comprehensive,
evidence-driven solutions for addressing this hunger crisis. This bill
would meet the needs of so many families who are still struggling to put
food on the table. 

[1] → Urge Congress to quickly pass the “Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act”
to dramatically reduce child hunger! 

The Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act is long overdue; Congress has not
reauthorized federal child nutrition programs for seven years! And because
of rising meal costs and higher rates of food insecurity, families need
help now more than ever. Among its many provisions, this proposed child
nutrition reauthorization bill would dramatically expand school and summer
meal access for students, increase WIC eligibility to age six, help
prevent school lunch debt and the shaming that accompanies it [ [link removed] ], and
provide an additional reimbursable meal to children in a full day of care
to meet their growing needs.  

[2]Tell Congress: Because of rising food costs and increasing numbers of
food insecure families, the time is NOW to pass the Healthy Meals, Healthy
Kids Act!

Members of Congress have the opportunity to greatly reduce the number of
hungry children in the U.S. Let’s make sure that they take advantage of
this opportunity and pass the bill! 

Specifically, the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act will: 

* Expand access to school meals by expanding the Community Eligibility
Provision so more school districts can provide free meals and ensuring
children on Medicaid are automatically certified for free school
meals.
* Address unpaid school meal fees by providing protections for children
and families with these fees and requiring school districts to take
steps to determine if families who are accruing school lunch debt are
eligible for free or reduced-price meals. 
* Preserve the future of school meal programs by increasing the
reimbursement rate for lunch by 10 cents and providing commodity
support to the School Breakfast Program.
* Modernize the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,
Infants and Children (WIC) by expanding WIC eligibility to age six,
improving access to telehealth to reduce the physical presence
requirement, and expanding the Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Program to
ensure more mothers have access to breastfeeding support.
* Address food insecurity during the summer by expanding access to
summer meals and creating a nationwide Summer EBT program, which would
help close the summer meal gap, and give the USDA waiver authority
during federally declared emergencies. 
* Improve school meal capacity and sustainability by providing grants to
purchase kitchen equipment, supporting farm to school programs, and
incentivizing cooking from scratch. 
* Allow for one additional reimbursable meal for children in a full day
of care, giving children a full day’s worth of meals they need to
grow. 
* Create a pilot program to allow Tribal governments to express their
inherent sovereignty in food and agriculture by administering the
child nutrition programs. [3, 4]

[ [link removed] ]Urge Congress to help end child hunger by passing the Healthy Meals,
Healthy Kids Act now!

Structural racism plays a major role in food insecurity that cannot be
overstated. According to a May 2020 report from the Urban Institute, Black
and Hispanic households with children reported food insecurity rates that
were double those of white households with children. [ [link removed] ] The Healthy
Meals, Healthy Kids Act would go a long way toward addressing these racial
inequities in food insecurity.

[ [link removed] ]Tell Congress: Take meaningful action to reduce the racial hunger gap
by passing the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act! 

Together we are a powerful voice for children and families! 

-Jessica, Elyssa, Hanna and the whole MomsRising team

[5]P.S. Your experiences are powerful. Would you be willing to share your
story about how universal free school meals would help your family? If so,
please click here, and thank you!  

References:

[1] [ [link removed] ]Demand at food banks is way up again. But inflation makes it harder
to meet the need. 

[2] [ [link removed] ]Without free school meals for all, many fear lunch debt will return
‘with a vengeance’

[3] [ [link removed] ]Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act Fact Sheet

[4] [ [link removed] ]The Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act: FRAC’s Complete Summary

[5] [ [link removed] ]Congressional Democrats push to expand access to free [ [link removed] ]school
[ [link removed] ]meals 

 


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