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.