A First Step to Keeping Kids Fed

Today, the Keep Kids Fed Act was enacted.  

This critical legislation will help mitigate a summer hunger crisis, support access to child care meals, and provide additional funding and flexibility for school nutrition operations. 

The California Association of Food Banks thanks Congress for enacting the bipartisan Keep Kids Fed Act, H.R. 8150. We are grateful for the leadership of Speaker Pelosi and the California delegation for their support. Schools are still facing ongoing supply chain disruptions, so we call on the delegation to extend all the waivers that have enabled nationwide healthy school meals for all.

No child should go hungry, yet the latest food insecurity data shows that 25% of households with children in California are food insecure, with deep disparities for Latinx and Black households. Children who grow up in food-insecure households face significant, life-long health, social, and economic consequences.

As we look ahead to the upcoming school year, we urge additional investments and continued flexibilities to prevent child hunger and support universal access to free school meals so that we can truly keep kids fed.