New Federal Program to Address Child Hunger Begins This Summer

This summer, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will launch a new program called Summer [electronic benefit transfer] EBT. It has been almost 50 years since Congress last established a new, permanent federal nutrition assistance program. The Summer EBT program is designed to support food and nutrition security among children from financially vulnerable households while school is out of session. The program provides money to purchase groceries at more than 250 000 stores authorized to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits or, in the case of participating Tribes, through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.