Browse By Policies & Programs

• Food and Nutrition

  Childcare Feeding Programs

  CACFP (Child and Adult Care Food Program) plays a vital role in improving the quality of day care for children and elderly adults by making care more affordable for many low-income families. Through CACFP, 2.9 million children and 86,000 adults in the United States receive nutritious meals and snacks each day as part of their day care. Because research has shown that nutrition in the first years of life has a profound effect on behavioral and cognitive development, this program plays a crucial role in improving the health and development of American children. See the CACFP website for more information on the effects of this program.

   

  Emergency Food Assistance

  Emergency food assistance is food that is typically distributed through food pantries, food banks, and soup kitchens.  Emergency food assistance provides groceries and/or hot meals to those in need at various locations, but supply is variable and distributers are often unable to meet the demand, especially given that more people are in need of food during these current economic conditions. Experts agree that emergency food assistance cannot be expected to fill the shortcomings of the food stamp allotment.  See the Hunger Coalition website for a list of emergency food providers in Philadelphia. 

   

  Food Stamps/SNAP

  Food stamps (renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) are used to buy food and help low-income households in the United States obtain more nutritious diets by increasing the food purchasing power at grocery stores and supermarkets for all eligible participants. Applicants must fill out an application form at the County Assistance Office or online and provide proof of identity, income, and expenses. Benefits are provided on an electronic card, called an EBT card, that is used like an ATM card and accepted at most grocery stores. Food stamps/SNAP are a much more stable and beneficial source of food than emergency food assistance, yet research has show that per-person food stamp allotments do not cover the cost of a healthy diet in America (see “Coming Up Short: high food costs outstrip food stamp benefits”). From an economic standpoint, food stamps have been shown to be the fastest way to stimulate the economy: $1 in food stamp allotment generates $1.73 in consumer spending (see this recent article in CNN).

   

  School Breakfast

  The School Breakfast Program (SBP) provides cash assistance to States to operate nonprofit breakfast programs in schools and residential childcare institutions. The program is administered at the federal level by the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service. State education agencies administer the SBP at the state level, and local school food authorities operate it in schools. The School Breakfast and School Lunch programs are a part of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act, scheduled for reauthorization in September 2010. See the Food Research and Access Center for more information on the act and what you can do to improve funding for these programs.

   

  WIC

  The Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides federal grants to states for supplemental foods and infant formula, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk. Forty-five percent of children born in the US participate in WIC, and the WIC program has been show to be beneficial to the health of infants (WIC Surveillance Study).

  Childcare Feeding Programs, Emergency Food Assistance, Food Stamps, School Breakfast, Women Infants and Children