MEASURE TO EXPAND SCHOOL FOOD PROGRAMS GARNERS BROAD SUPPORT

Program would help to reduce stigma around “free lunch”

AUGUSTA –A measure to allow eligible schools to serve free and nutritious meals to all students received support from public school food directors, educators, and nonprofit food program leaders during a public hearing in the state’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee today.

Sen. Justin Alfond of Portland

The measure, LD 380, “Resolve, To Establish a Working Group To Aid with the End of Student Hunger,” would set up a two-month working group to maximize and expand a USDA program known as Community Eligibility Provision(CEP) to more Maine schools.

“Utilizing CEP will greatly reduce the student and family stigma around food access. It is also logistically easier for schools because it reduces administrative costs and paperwork,” said Democratic Leader Justin Alfond of Portland, the bill’s sponsor and co-chair of the Task Force to End Student Hunger.

The measure would implement one of the recommendations from the Task Force to End Student Hunger’s report by establishing at least one CEP participating school in each eligible school district by 2020. Currently, there are 27 districts that could potentially qualify for CEP but only seven are participating.

“By continuing the work on this critical issue, I know that we can make great strides toward eliminating food insecurity among Maine’s children,” said Democratic State Senator Rebecca Millett of Cape Elizabeth who serves on the Education committee and also served on the Task Force to End Student Hunger.

Currently Maine is first in New England and third in the United States for food insecurity with 46% of school-aged children qualifying for free and reduced meals and more than 86,000 school-aged children who are hungry or “food insecure.”

The CEP program is an alternative to the National School Breakfast and Lunch Program, that allows eligible communities to provide meals to all students at no cost–eliminating the need to collect individual applications from each child’s family. Eligible schools or districts must serve a population of students who are predominantly food insecure as determined by data including, but not limited to the SNAP and TANF programs. Once a participating community is deemed eligible, they retain that eligibility for four years.

Sen. Rebecca Millett of Cape Elizabeth

“Maine faces a challenge in solving our state’s hunger crisis,” added Senator Alfond. “The Legislature has rightfully taken action to work on solving this urgent issue.”

Senator Alfond has been a leading advocate of solving childhood hunger during his tenure in the Maine Senate. Last year, he sponsored a measure that expanded summer food programs in Maine. That bill was vetoed by Gov. LePage and later overridden by the Legislature.

The Education and Cultural Affairs Committee will be holding a work session in the coming weeks.

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