USDA helping hungry kids and families during pandemic

On Wednesday, March 18, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which includes billions of dollars in nutrition assistance for children and families. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue is taking swift action to implement these new provisions and ensure children and families are fed. USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) launched a new webpage –www.fns.usda.gov/coronavirus– to provide key information on COVID-19 nutrition assistance for program operators and the public alike.

Last week, Secretary Perdue announced a collaboration with the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, McLane Global, PepsiCo, and others to deliver nearly 1,000,000 meals per week to students in a limited number of rural schools closed due to COVID-19. These boxes will contain five days’ worth of shelf-stable, nutritious, individually packaged foods that meet USDA’s summer food requirements. The use of this innovative delivery system will ensure rural children receive nutritious food while limiting exposure to COVID-19.

USDA continues to provide extensive technical assistance to state agencies to make it as easy as possible for states to aid program participants. This includes, for example, templates for requesting waivers, tailored guidance, and webinars for state program staff.