Academy Urges Congress to Prioritize Federal Nutrition Program Funding
04/16/2020 - The Academy urges Congress to act now to ensure access to healthy food and protect jobs for those on the frontlines feeding their communities, including Academy members. In a letter sent to congressional leadership yesterday, the Academy requested that the fourth COVID-19 relief package not only provide provisions to manage the immediate impact of the pandemic, but also look to recovery.
The Academy requests the packaged to include the following provisions:
- Invest in SNAP;
- Extend the Pandemic-Electronic Benefits Transfer through the summer;
- Invest in recovery efforts for school nutrition and child care programs;
- Invest in school kitchen equipment grants;
- Increase benefits for fruit and vegetable purchases through WIC;
- Provide personal protective equipment for community food providers;
- Allow for flexibilities in SNAP-Ed for the COVID-19 response; and
- Invest in The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).
Read the Academy's letter.