Tag: SNAP

Yu Ying Public Charter School Students Investigate Hunger

World Hunger Education Service was invited to meet with a group of 5th graders at Yu Ying Public Charter School in Northeast Washington, DC to talk with them about hunger in the world.

Fifth graders at Yu Ying are tasked with completing a capstone project called Exhibition. The Exhibition is a group project where students pick a world issue to research and take action on.  They then present their findings to other students at the school who visit their exhibition.

With guidance from their teacher, Amanda Ingram, and Jillian Crandall, the Elementary Director of Yu Ying’s International Baccalaureate Program, I volunteered to meet with them, since I was eager to learn what these young people understood about why hunger exists in the world and what can be done to address it.

On March 25, I met with four Yu Ying 5th grade students who had chosen the issue of world hunger for their group project.  I was impressed at their interest in the topic and in their understanding of the causes of hunger and food insecurity, and how they affect people, especially children.

I asked them about the difference between temporary hunger and chronic hunger, which they understood.  They were also clear about the problem of food insecurity which affects some 50 million Americans each year.

We talked about the infographic The State of Global Hunger which highlights the magnitude of hunger across the global, concentrated especially in Asia/Near East and Africa.  We also talked about hunger in the United States, which affects both rural and urban areas but in different ways.  We watched a short video clip focused on a 5th grader in rural Colorado whose family sometimes doesn’t have food and how hunger makes it difficult for her to pay attention in school.  We talked about programs that can help alleviate hunger and food insecurity, like the U.S. Government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and community food banks.

The students already had a good understanding of how unemployment and poverty increase hunger.  We also talked about how wars and conflicts cause hunger as people are forced to flee their homes.  The students were researching innovations like plumpy food, a non-peanut-based high energy food which can treat acute hunger.

They were also clear about things they can do to address hunger globally and in the United States, like educating their friends and family, not wasting food, and supporting organizations that address hunger like UNICEF and many private voluntary organizations and churches.

I recommended they use some of the World Hunger Education Service hunger quizzes in their Exhibition to see what their fellow students know.

Their interest in world hunger and their curiosity about what can be done to alleviate it gives me hope about what these young people can do.

  – Lani Marquez, WHES Board of Trustees

 

Former International Food Aid Expert Reflects on U.S. SNAP

Former federal worker Nadira Kabir reflects on her experience navigating access to the SNAP program (U.S. domestic food assistance) after unemployment and pregnancy.  “SNAP exists because hunger doesn’t wait for employment to resume.” 

Beyond the practical support, the author emphasizes SNAP’s emotional significance: it provided stability, reduced constant financial calculation, and preserved dignity during a volatile period.  She writes:  “You don’t lose your worth because your job ends.”

She reframes SNAP not as dependency but as earned protection and temporary scaffolding, urging others who qualify to use it without shame. The piece includes practical guidance on eligibility, application steps, and how SNAP coordinates with other safety net programs like Medicaid and unemployment insurance.

As background, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or “SNAP,” formerly known as “food stamps,” is the largest federal nutrition assistance program in the U.S.  It provides monthly benefits to low-income individuals and families via an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, which works like a debit card at authorized grocery stores and farmers’ markets.  It is designed to supplement a food budget, not cover it entirely. The benefit amount is calculated based on the “Thrifty Food Plan,” the USDA’s estimate of the lowest-cost diet required for adequate nutrition.  While it is funded by the federal government (USDA), it is administered at the state level.

See:  https://frombureaucrattobabysteps.com/2026/02/04/snap-isnt-a-handout-how-food-assistance-helped-me-breathe-during-unemployment/

CSIS Reviews Implications of the Final U.S. Hunger Report

A new Jan. 6 report from the think tank, CSIS, reviews the recent U.S. Government study about hunger in America, noting that this until-now annual food security or hunger report will no longer be conducted by the US Government which deemed it political and inducing fear.

Caitlin Welsh, the author of this review observes that “the end of the report represents a rupture in long-standing data on food security among Americans, as there is no report that provides the same information to the public and policymakers today.”  This survey had been created with bipartisan support and helped advise Congress about anti-hunger programs.

The USDA Household Food Security in the US publication looks back at 2024 found that roughly 1 in 7 Americans were food insecure, and that “5.4 percent of households experienced very low food security.”  Hunger was not uniform everywhere in the U.S.  For example, 36% of families in the Washington DC area experienced food insecurity in 2024 and “the Greater Boston Food Bank found that in 2024, 37 percent of Massachusetts households faced food insecurity in 2024.”

Welsh writes that food insecurity in the US has in the past tracked the health of the U.S. economy.  In recent years, hunger has increased, in significant part because of increasing retail food prices.  Welsh says “alongside elevated food prices, experts may be right to assume a continued rise in food insecurity in 2025.  In 2026, cuts in the SNAP program enacted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, were estimated to eliminate SNAP assistance for millions of Americans, may further increase food insecurity among U.S. families.”

CSIS is the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an independent, non-partisan think tank based in Washington, DC.  See:  https://www.csis.org/analysis/last-us-hunger-data-what-we-lose-termination-usdas-household-food-security-united-states

For the full US Department of Agriculture report, published on Dec. 30, 2025, see:  https://ers.usda.gov/sites/default/files/_laserfiche/publications/113623/ERR-358.pdf?v=89918  authored by Matthew P. Rabbitt, Madeline Reed-Jones, Laura J. Hales, Shellye Suttles, and Michael P. Burke who are economists in the Economic Research Service of USDA.

See also, the related Hunger Notes article on this issue by Kathy Goss:  https://www.worldhunger.org/united-states-cancels-household-food-security-report/

USDA to Provide $2b in Food Aid to Combat Growing Food Insecurity Across US

The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to provide $2 billion in food aid to food banks and school districts to help feed children and families who may be struggling to afford enough nutritious food.  This comes amid fast-rising food prices, especially for fresh fruits and vegetables, and increases in food insecurity across the country.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, usage of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) increased by over 4 million recipients – all participants were allotted maximum benefits. Emergency funds for food aid will likely end within the next few months of 2022, which would lead to substantial decreases in monthly assistance. The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) estimates that “41 million SNAP recipients will lose an average of $82 in food benefits per month and some households will see benefits drop by as much as $200 per month.”

The USDA said that the funds are part of its “emergency food assistance” program, which provides money to government agencies and nonprofits to help low-income people buy groceries. The funds will come from the Commodity Credit Corporation, a government agency that provides loans to farmers.

These funds will go toward supporting school meal programs as well as providing assistance for food banks that have seen demand skyrocket since the pandemic started. The agency said it would also increase funding for community projects focused on nutrition education and healthy eating habits by $10 million over last year’s budget, bringing total funding up to $30 million nationwide.

Read the full Washington Post article: USDA to give $2 billion to food banks, schools to stem rise in hunger