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Health Care Provider Survey Findings:  Addressing Food Insecurity Among Older Adults —  Health Care Provider Beliefs, Practices, and Resources

July 20, 2023

The Food Research & Action Center and AARP Foundation collaborated with Dr. Rachel Zimmer of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and Dr. Kimberly Montez, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and conducted a survey to learn more about current efforts and promising opportunities for doctors, nurses, and other health care providers to address food insecurity among their patients 50 years of age and older. This report summarizes the findings of the survey responses from 144 health care providers. It also provides recommendations to enhance efforts by health care providers to address food insecurity informed by the survey findings.

Ensuring Access to Food Resources for Students Experiencing Homelessness

June 30, 2023

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 10.2% (or 13.5 million) of households were food insecure at some point during 2021. These households were uncertain of having or were unable to acquire enough food for all members of the household due to financial hardship or lack of food resources. Families experiencing homelessness often face additional barriers to accessing food due to high mobility or lack of transportation. Homeless liaisons play an important role in ensuring that students have access to free school meals and referrals are made to provide the family access to food resources in the community.

Large School District Report: Operating School Nutrition Programs as the Nation Recovers From the Pandemic

June 28, 2023

Many large school districts across the country reported decreased participation in school breakfast and lunch when the nationwide child nutrition waiver that allowed schools to offer school meals to all of their students at no charge ended, according to FRAC's latest report, Large School District Report: Operating School Nutrition Programs as the Nation Recovers from the Pandemic.Key FindingsThe 91 school districts highlighted in this report included a total of 10,748 schools representing 6,520,586 students.Average daily participation in breakfast decreased by more than 100,000 students across all surveyed districts — from 1.84 million children participating in breakfast each day in April 2022 to 1.74 million participating daily in October 2022.Average daily participation in lunch decreased by more than 250,000 students — from 3.61 million students participating in lunch each day in April 2022 to 3.36 million participating daily in October 2022.Collectively, most school districts served fewer children both school breakfast and lunch in October 2022 compared to April 2022. Thirty-three districts saw an increase in breakfast participation from April 2022 to October 2022, and 28 districts saw an increase in lunch participation from April 2022 to October 2022.

Emerging Federal Funding Opportunities for Farm to Early Care and Education

May 31, 2021

The American Rescue Plan will be infusing billions of dollars through the early care and education (ECE) sector and food and agriculture systems in the coming months. While severely devastated by the COVID-19 emergency and subsequent economic crisis, both of these sectors are ripe with opportunity to build back with greater equity and resiliency. Farm to early care and education (farm to ECE) can be a component of building back better. Use this funding guide infographic to learn how you can help leverage CACFP, WIC, and additional emerging funding streams to convey the needs and desires of your community, influence equitable use of funds, and elevate opportunities for farm to ECE.

Food Over Fear: Overcoming Barriers to Connect Latinx Immigrant Families to Federal Nutrition and Food Programs

December 1, 2020

This report sheds light on why many immigrant families are forgoing vital assistance from federal nutrition and food programs and lifts up recommendations aimed at ensuring that all families and individuals, regardless of immigration status, are nourished and healthy.While the findings of this report are informed by a series of focus groups conducted from November 2019 to January 2020 (prior to the onset of COVID-19), the need to connect immigrant families to nutrition programs is arguably of even greater importance given how COVID-19 is fueling unprecedented food insecurity and ravaging communities of color and immigrant communities at disproportionately high rates due to unique barriers faced by families that include noncitizens.

How Hungry is America?

August 16, 2018

After several years of fairly continuous improvement (reductions) in the food hardship rate as the nation recovered from the recession (e.g., the national rate fell in 2014, 2015, and 2016), the food hardship rate rose from 15.1 percent in 2016 to 15.7 percent in 2017.  Households with children are particularly vulnerable to hunger — their food hardship rate nationally is approximately one-third higher than the rate for households without children, and jumped to 18.4 percent in 2017, from 17.5 percent in 2016. In every part of the nation, substantial numbers of households are struggling with hunger. At least 1 in 7 households suffered from food hardship in 2016–2017 in 24 states and the District of Columbia; and in 63 out of 108 MSAs in the study. The Southwest region (as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service, or FNS) overtook the Southeast region in 2017 as the region with the highest rate of food hardship. The rise in the national rate in 2017 is significant. After the height of the recession, the national food hardship rate had fallen from nearly 18.9 percent in 2013 to 15.1 percent in 2016.