RoxanneThe Importance of Tackling Food Insecurity
Food insecurity was already an issue before the coronavirus pandemic hit. But once COVID-19 appeared, it made the nutrition situation for low-income families even worse.
Providing nutritious food for children is a worry that no family should have. A diet lacking in nutrient-rich, healthy foods can negatively impact a child’s ability to learn. This can make it impossible for them to succeed in school, holding them back from progressing through life and making it out of the poverty cycle.
Beyond those negative consequences, poor nutrition has also been proven to hurt overall health. Children with lacking diets are at a higher risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and other serious ailments. Nearly one out of five children in the U.S. are obese, which increases the likelihood of obesity continuing into adulthood.
What happens when children carry obesity into adulthood? It can put a considerable burden on the healthcare system. Beyond that, prevalent obesity can hamper work productivity, increase sick days, and even hurt the military’s readiness, which can threaten our national security.
While many argue that it’s a parent’s responsibility to feed their children at home, studies show that kids get the most nutrition from their school meals. This shows the critical role the federal government can play in optimizing children’s health, which is why President Biden’s American Families Plan aims to spread a $45 billion investment among various nutrition programs.
Nutrition Highlights of the American Families Plan
Increase Summer EBT Benefits
Low-income families have relied on Summer EBT to buy food when school is out. It serves as a replacement for reduced-price and free meals kids enjoy during the school year.
Studies have shown that Summer EBT successfully tackled food insecurity and improved children’s nutrition. Under the American Families Plan, Summer Pandemic-EBT would become permanent via a $25 billion investment. With it, 29 million children could continue to receive funds for summer meals.
Make School Meals More Accessible
High-poverty schools can offer free meals to their entire student bodies through the Community Eligibility Provision. Entire school districts can qualify for this free meal program as long as 40 percent of the students come from families receiving SNAP benefits. Thanks to the program, kids from families who may not understand the application process are covered. More important, kids can avoid the negative stigma that may come with receiving free meals.
At this time, only 70 percent of schools have enrolled in CEP. Biden hopes to increase that number by improving reimbursement to schools and lowering the eligibility threshold for the program. He plans to do this through a $17 billion investment. The result would give an extra 9.3 million children free meals, with many being in elementary schools.
Encourage Healthy Food Usage
The American Families Plan also aims to invest $1 billion to give schools an incentive to offer healthy foods on their menus. For instance, if a school exceeds healthy offering standards with its meals, it could receive a higher reimbursement rate.
