“We know that you can’t learn if you’re hungry,” Shumlin told a room full of fourth- through seventh-graders at Barre City Elementary and Middle School at lunchtime Monday, as he stood in front of a bowl piled with apples and bananas.
Kevin Concannon, undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, joined the governor, congratulating the Barre school for taking part in the program.
“The intent behind that is to reduce the paperwork,” Concannon said. It will also reduce the stigma for children who qualify, he said.
Just one week into the school year, breakfast participation at the Barre school is up by 75 meals per day and lunch participation is up by 100 meals per day, according to George Mackey, food service director for Barre City Supervisory Union.
Twenty-nine of 50 eligible schools in Vermont have chosen to participate in this program, according to the governor’s office.
The program is part of the federal Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, Concannon said. The “Community Eligibility Provision” of that law has already been introduced in several states but this year opened to all 50 states.
Schools qualify if they have a high number of children whose family income is 185 percent or less of the federal poverty level (for a family of four that means $23,850) and if they have a high percentage of children whose family income has been verified through another state or federal program, such as ReachUp or food stamps, Concannon said.
At Barre Elementary and Middle School, 57 percent of families’ incomes have been verified and 66 percent of students are eligible for free and/or reduced-cost meals, he said.
The news conference came a week after a national report that revealed that 13 percent of Vermont households had trouble putting food on the table in 2013, the most recent data available.
Food insecurity stayed steady nationwide compared to the year before, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which issued the “Household Food Security in the United States” study Sept. 3.
“Food insecure” means a household had difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources.
Nationwide, 85.5 percent of American households were food secure throughout 2013; 14.3 percent were food insecure, the same percentage as the year before, the report said.
The high and persistent level of hunger underscores a need to strengthen food stamp benefits and expanding child nutrition programs, said Marissa Parisi, the executive director of Hunger Free Vermont. The nonprofit group helped roll out the Community Eligibility Provision in Vermont.
“What these numbers show is that hard-working Vermonters continue to feel the pinch of a sluggish recovery,” Parisi said in a news release publicizing the hunger report. “Many people are finding their salaries don’t keep pace with the rising costs of housing, education and healthcare.”
The Vermont Legislature in 2013 eliminated the reduced-price category for school lunch in all schools, allowing all students who would be eligible for reduced-price lunch to get it free, leading to increased participation, according to the governor’s office.
A similar provision passed in 2008 eliminated reduced-price breakfast and led to an 85 percent increase in participation, Shumlin’s office said.
A total of about 7,000 students this year benefit from the Community Eligibility Provision, according to Hunger Free Vermont. Officials said it is hard to calculate exactly how much more money this will cost the federal government, which reimburses schools for free and reduced lunches.
Schools participating include J.J. Flynn Elementary School in Burlington, Enosburg Elementary School, Isle La Motte School, Waits River Valley USD, Barton Graded School, Rutland Intermediate School and Winooski Elementary School, according to Hunger Free Vermont.
