Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told school food directors on Monday the government will help them continue feeding children if schools are closed due to Covid-19. “If schools are closed, we are going to do our very best to see you all have the tools you need to keep the kids fed,” he said at a School Nutrition Association conference.
But he also said, “We have not seen the impact” from the coronavirus to justify an increase in food stamp benefits, a step suggested by Democratic leaders in Congress.
Over the weekend, the USDA approved waivers for California and Washington state that free their schools from having to serve meals in a group setting to low-income students during a closure. The meals usually are served through USDA’s summer food program, offered in low-income areas, but available at other times of the year during emergencies. At least half of the students in a school must be eligible for free or reduced-price lunches for a school to run a summer food program.
Additional state requests for waivers were being drafted on Monday. Perdue told the SNA that USDA would issue an “presumptive affirmative answer” to requests for waivers from the congregant feeding rule.
Roughly 2.9 million school-age children were served by the summer food program at latest count, according to the antihunger Food Research and Action Center. Participation was one-seventh of the 22 million students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals in the school lunch program.
“The gap is huge,” said Crystal FitzSimmons of FRAC, because summer food programs can run only in areas where at least 50 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. “It would be helpful if the waivers were broader” and allowed students to pick up more than one meal at a time, she said.
Perdue told reporters “I do not” have a recommendation about raising SNAP benefits. “Food stamp benefits are set by Congress,” he said. “From my perspective, we have not seen the impact” nationwide from the coronavirus. Jobless rates are low and comparatively few schools have closed due to the virus.
The USDA will consider waivers, if needed, in specific labor markets from the usual 90-day limit on food stamps for able-bodied adults, said Perdue.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called for an expansion of SNAP, WIC, school lunch and other nutrition programs “in order to ensure vulnerable populations do not lose access to food during this epidemic.”
Congress temporarily raised SNAP benefits by an average 17 percent as part of the economic stimulus package that combatted the financial crisis of 2008-09. The increase amounted to $80 a month for a family of four.