04.08.16

Scott, Fudge Welcome Release of Report Showing Community Eligibility Provision’s Success in Helping Students Access School Meals

WASHINGTON – Ranking Member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Marcia Fudge (D-OH) made the following statement on the release of the joint Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) and Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) report entitled Community Eligibility Adoption Rises for the 2015–2016 School Year, Increasing Access to School Meals. Democrats on the House Education and the Workforce Committee are committed to ensuring that Child Nutrition programs, through initiatives such as the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), continue to provide nutritious meals that combat the threat of food insecurity facing millions of children.

“The introduction of the Community Eligibility Provision has given high-poverty districts and schools across the nation the ability to serve healthy breakfasts and lunches to all students at no cost to parents and families,” said Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03). “From rural to urban areas, CEP is being used as a method to reduce administrative burden and paperwork, and to provide access to the nutritious foods students need to stay healthy and engaged in the classroom. As we work toward a strong reauthorization of child nutrition programs, it is important that we protect the progress of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and CEP, to ensure schools and districts have the support they need to successfully implement critical programs.” 

“School meals are the primary source of nutrition for many of our nation’s students, especially those in high-poverty districts. Congress must continue to strengthen the national school breakfast and lunch programs and support policies, like the Community Eligibility Provision, that will help feed America’s children,” said Rep. Marcia Fudge (OH-11), Ranking Member of the Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Subcommittee. “By targeting schools with high need and allowing more children to participate, the CEP is a common sense measure for school districts and families.”

For many children, their only access to nutritious meals is at school, through the school meal programs. One in five children in the United States live with food insecurity. According to the CBPP-FRAC report, this year more than 8.5 million children in more than 18,000 schools – an increase of nearly 4,000 schools and two million children from last year – receive free nutritious meals through the Community Eligibility Provision, all without the added burden of submitting costly and time-consuming paper applications. We should make it easier for more children in-need to access breakfasts and lunches to address the dangers of food insecurity and malnutrition.

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