Meals during the Pandemic

The pandemic has made it harder for many Alaskans to feed their families. Reduced work hours or job losses have many parents worrying about paying for groceries. Kids unable to go to school or child care may be missing some healthy meals that families relied on to make ends meet.

Many local, state, and national programs are working overtime to ensure that kids and families are able to find safe, healthy foods during this difficult time. Federal programs are adding new services or eliminating some requirements, making it easier to get help. Local food pantries are being creative with the many different ways they’re providing food to an increasing number of families.

• Earlier this month U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced that the USDA would be extending flexibilities to allow free meals to continue to be available to all children throughout the entire 2020-2021 school year. This unprecedented move is part of USDA’s unwavering commitment to ensuring all children across America have access to nutritious food as the nation recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Free and reduced-price school meals are available through schools that participate in the National School Lunch Programand School Breakfast Program. Right now, each school district has its own plan for distributing meals. Contact your local school or school district to learn more about how they’re distributing food and how to apply.

• The USDA launched an online tool – the “Meals for Kids”Site Finder – to help families find meals for children while schools are closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Parents and caregivers can also text the word “FOOD” to 877-877 to see all nearby meal options. The service is also available in Spanish by texting the word “COMIDA” to 877-877.

• The USDA National Hunger Hotlineis a helpful resource for people seeking food assistance. The hotline, operated by Hunger Free America, can be reached Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET. at 1-866-3-HUNGRY (1-866-348-6479) or 1-877-8-HAMBRE (1-877-842-6273) (for Spanish).

• The USDA approved Alaska to operate Pandemic EBT, a supplemental food purchasing benefit to current SNAP participants and as a new EBT benefit to other eligible households to offset the cost of meals that would have otherwise been consumed at school.

For more information about Alaska’s child and school nutrition programs, and information about how DEED is helping to provide meals through the pandemic, visit DEED’s Child Nutrition Programs page.

Our friends at DHSS also put together a great blog highlighting food resources in Alaska. Read the full article here.