Every five years, Congress has an opportunity to improve and strengthen federal child nutrition programs and school meals through the Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) process. The last version of the bill, the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, expired in 2015 yet many of its programs continue to operate on autopilot. This important legislation funds and sets the rules for critical programs like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); The National School lunch and Breakfast Program and other child and adult food care programs.
The importance of passing an updated CNR Act is amplified by record high child food insecurity rates, with BIPOC children and their families being hit the hardest by disrupted access to free school meals and overall higher job loss. In 2021, our representatives in Congress have an opportunity to improve the health of millions of children through a strong CNR bill.
On Thursday, May 13th Equity Advocates and City Harvest co-hosted a webinar on CNR for advocates to share information about key initiatives in the bill, opportunities the pandemic presents for creating new and expanding existing programs, the process for reauthorization, and how you can get involved. To view a recording of the webinar, please click on the link below.
