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By Kimberly Beltran
Monday, August 05, 2013
An experimental program that extended food benefits to needy families electronically substantially reduced the number of children at risk of going hungry during off-school summer months, a just-released analysis shows.
In addition to reducing “very low food security among children” – most of who were from economically-disadvantaged families – the USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Card program produced increases in the consumption of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and dairy foods among kids in households participating in the trial.
In 2012 – the second year of operation, when the demonstration was fully implemented – the evaluation found that this approach could reach up to 75 percent of eligible children and reduce the prevalence of very low food security among children by about one-third, the analysis stated.
“This statistically significant finding constitutes unequivocal evidence that SEBTC achieved its primary goal of reducing VLFS-C (very low food security among children), on average, across the 14 sites” participating in the demo, analysts concluded.
The SEBTC demonstration was designed as a rigorous test of the impact of providing a monthly benefit of $60 per child – using existing electronic benefit transfer systems – on “food insecurity” among children during the summer when school meals are not available.
It is one of several options the Food and Nutrition Service has tested as a way to offer more children greater access to its Summer Food Service Program. Under that program, children 18 and younger may receive at least one free, healthy meal a day – provided they have access to a service site in their area.
While many school districts, local government entities and community organizations prepare and serve meals through
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