Hunger Justice Series Week 3: Alternatives to Emergency Food Programs

Justine Kahn from Project Bread:

Although emergency food programs are an important tool to address the immediate needs of those facing hunger, they do not provide a sustainable long term solution to ending hunger in this country. Instead, the federal government has established a nutrition safety net through a variety of federal nutrition programs, including:

• Summer Food Service Program
• National School Lunch Program
• National School Breakfast Program
• SNAP (formerly the Food Stamp Program)
• WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children)
• Child and Adult Care Food Program

These programs ensure that families and children have access to food in a more seamless and less stigmatizing way than standing in line at a food pantry or soup kitchen. Not only do these programs help families stretch their budgets further, but the child nutrition programs ensure that children are prepared to learn.

The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)

• Families who rely on free or reduced price school meals for their children during the academic year often find it difficult to absorb the additional food costs when school closes for the summer. To address the need, the USDA established the Summer Food Service Program to provide free summer meals to kids 18 and under in low-income communities. There is no need to show identification or registration to receive a meal. Kids can just show up!

How can you help?

• Distribute SFSP promotional materials to your friends, neighbors, colleagues, and community partners. These are available for free from the Child Nutrition Outreach Program at Project Bread.

• After July 1^st, visit Meals 4 Kids or call Project Bread’s FoodSource Hotline at 1-800-645-8333 for complete site information this summer.
  
• Volunteer at a summer meal site and provide some activities for the kids.

School Meals Programs

• Students are eligible for free, reduced price, or full price meals based on their household income. This is determined through the school meals application that their families are asked to complete at the beginning of the school year.

Eligibility for federal nutrition programs is often based on the information contained in these applications. That is why it is extremely important that families complete the form and return it to their child’s school. Unfortunately, many families do not return their applications to the school.

How can you help?

• You can share the following information with families in your community
• School Meal Applications are confidential.
• You do not need to have a social security number to apply for school meal benefits.
• Application forms are available in 26 different languages. Ask your school for a form in your preferred language.
• You can complete a School Meal Application at ANY point during the year. Just request an application from your school.
• If you already filled out a School Meal Application but your income has changed since then, you can fill out a new one.
• Students who meet any of the following criteria do not need to submit income information to qualify for free meals: homeless, runaway, and migrant youth, recipients of SNAP benefits (formerly food stamps), recipients of TANF benefits (cash assistance)
• If you have applied for free or reduced price school meals for your child but were turned away because you make too much money, you may still be eligible to receive SNAP benefits (formerly food stamps).
• If you receive SNAP benefits, your child is automatically eligible to receive FREE school meals! Call Project Bread’s FoodSource Hotline at 1-800-645-8333 to find out if you are eligible for SNAP benefits.

National School Breakfast Program

When students eat breakfast at school, they start the day ready to learn. Students skip breakfast at home for many different reasons:

• They are not hungry when they first wake up.
• They are rushed in the morning and do not have time to eat.
• Their families do not have the financial resources to provide breakfast.

No matter what the reason, the school breakfast program is an excellent option for all families. Unfortunately, breakfast is usually offered before the start of the school day, making it logistically difficult for many children to access the program.

How can you help?

• Distribute school breakfast promotional materials to your friends, neighbors, colleagues, and community partners. These are available for free from the Child Nutrition Outreach Program at Project Bread.
• Encourage your child’s school to make breakfast a part of the regular school day so that it is accessible to all children.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)- Formerly the Food Stamp Program

SNAP provides low-income individuals with money to purchase food. SNAP recipients receive their monthly allocation on an “electronic benefits transfer” (EBT) card, similar to a debit card.

How can you help?

• Notify your friends, neighbors, colleagues, and community partners to call Project Bread’s FoodSource Hotline at 1-800-645-8333 for more information on how to apply for SNAP benefits or to be screened for SNAP benefits.
  

Project Bread’s FoodSource Hotline 1-800-645-8333.

The FoodSource Hotline can provide information about SNAP/food stamps, emergency food programs, and school meals. Counselors can answer questions in 160 different languages.

Hotline hours:
Monday-Friday: 8:00am-7pm

Saturday: 10:00-2:00