One of the Most Effective Programs to Reduce Child Hunger Is Caught in DOGE Limbo

California's farm-to-school grant program, launched in 2021, has successfully directed 100% of its funding to small and disadvantaged farmers. This has helped them expand their businesses through investments like refrigerated vans and partnerships with food hubs, enabling fresh local produce delivery to schools across the state.

Mutual aid groups in New Mexico are packing and delivering groceries and other staples to New Mexicans in need during the pandemic who have not been adequately served by existing social safety nets. Groups like Albuquerque Mutual Aid, McKinley Mutual Aid, and Santa Fe Mutual Aid Network accept cash donations and donated goods. Volunteers then distribute the goods to people whose immigration status, health risks, or lack of transportation block them from receiving traditional government aid. The groups are planning to coordinate their work to be more efficient so they can continue after the immediate crisis.

Policymakers and college students and faculty are testing a range of approaches to address food insecurity on campuses. One nonprofit provides small grants to students and professors to cover the cost of food, transportation, or other expenses.

Mobile delivery increases the accessibility of summer meal programs for children who rely on food assistance during the school year. Across the country, multiple initiatives by local governments, schools, nonprofits, and faith-based organizations are working to extend participation in summer meal programs. Many of these programs receive support from the USDA, but additional grants have allowed organizations to extend their range of delivery, as have partnerships with food trucks and transportation services.

Funded by a grant from the Colorado Health Foundation, several nonprofits are working to fill the summer food security gap for children who rely on school meals. Several groups, including Pine River Shares and Friends with Food, have partnered with the Education Literacy Health and Inspiration Community Center to provide free lunches to needy schoolchildren. When the school district ceased operating the meal program, ELHI took over the operations, serving the children of families who already come to the center for other activities.

Paris has become a leader in reducing food waste by passing legislation that requires large grocery stores to donate leftover food or compost it. Since 2016, this measure has saved over 10 million meals a year. In Philadelphia, where 326,000 people experience hunger and 300,000 pounds of food is thrown away monthly, the city is looking to France as an example for what it hopes to accomplish.

In an effort to better support its youngest learners, Mississippi implemented sweeping education reforms, including introducing a standardized “science of reading” curriculum, providing more teacher training and support with in-school literacy and math coaches, and holding back third-grade students who don’t meet their reading skills benchmarks. Over a decade, the number of students reading at grade level has climbed from 12 percent to 35 percent, and the state now ranks among the top ten nationally for fourth-grade reading scores.

The city of Quito’s Participatory Urban Agriculture Program creates sustainable access to food by providing land and agricultural training, and it prioritizes empowering vulnerable populations, particularly women.

Common Pantry provides assistance to those facing food insecurity, and recently opened a new facility to offer housing information and assistance with job searches, government benefits, health care and other services. The Pantry also started a nutrition program, teaching people about the science between food and health, as well as how to cook healthy meals at home.

Free school meal programs help improve students’ health, support better academic performance and combat hunger and food insecurity. Several states have passed legislation to keep free meal plans active after federal waivers ran out in 2022. In Michigan alone in October 2023, the 3,459 school meal sites across the state served 10,064,686 free breakfasts and 17,659,809 free lunches.