Gillibrand, Murkowski Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Give More Kids Access to Healthy Meals
Statement
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today announced a bill to expand access to healthy meals for kids when school is out for the summer. During the summer months, children who rely on school meals to eat face the risk of going hungry. Gillibrand and Murkowski's legislation, the Summer Meals Act of 2019, would improve the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Summer Food Service Program, which provides low-income children who would normally receive free or reduced lunch during the school year with nutritious meals during the summer. This bill would allow more children to have access to summer meals, provide transportation for children in rural and hard-to-reach areas to be able to access summer meals, and add flexibility to the program so that children can get more than one meal.
"Every child deserves access to healthy meals, but for too many children, the most nutritious meals they eat are provided at school," said Senator Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. "Today, I'm announcing a bill that would provide more children with a reliable source of meals during their summer vacation. With summer already underway, I urge my colleagues to support my bipartisan Summer Meals Act so that we can help give our students the best chance to grow healthy and strong."
"For far too many children in Alaska and across the country, the meals served at school and in afterschool and summer programs are the only meals they can rely on, and when those meals are not available, those children go hungry," said Senator Murkowski. "Federal policies that make it harder for schools and non-profit agencies to feed hungry children after school, during school vacation, and when schools are closed after a disaster, can and must be fixed. The Summer Meals Act is designed to do just that, and I look forward to working with Senator Gillibrand and other colleagues to include this legislation in the upcoming reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act."
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