Without Funding, Policy Won’t Fight Hunger
There was much to celebrate at the end of this year’s legislative session, including the passage of a number of anti-hunger bills. Nevertheless, without adequate funding behind them, the bills passed do little to end hunger. One in eight households in Maryland struggle to get enough to eat, and policy alone won’t help them.
One bill that passed this year, the Maryland Farms and Families Act, aims to give Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients more money to spend at farmers markets by investing state funds into the Maryland Market Money (MMM) program. MMM matches SNAP benefits spent at participating farmers markets up to $5 per week. Giving families additional money to buy fresh produce at a farmers market not only helps them access better nutrition, it also increases revenue for Maryland’s farms and agricultural producers, and puts additional money into the local economy. Unfortunately, the funding mandate that was originally included in the bill was removed from the final version, leaving future state funding for MMM uncertain.
Another bill passed adds flexibility to Maryland Meals for Achievement to make the program more accessible for high schools. Maryland Meals for Achievement provides breakfast at no cost to all students in schools where at least 40% of students are eligible for free or reduced priced meals. The program has tripled the likelihood that a student will eat breakfast in schools where it is in place and has led to improved student behavior and increased attendance. The new legislation changes the requirements for how breakfast is served to make it logistically feasible for high schools. However, few high schools already participate in the program, and without additional funding, it won’t be possible for additional high schools to participate.
The Hunger Free Schools Act of 2017 also passed and will continue access to the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). CEP allows 227 Maryland schools located in high poverty areas to provide free meals to all students, feeding thousands of additional students while cutting costs. The program is of no cost to Maryland because it is entirely federally funded. Although vigilance is necessary to preserve federal funding for CEP, not needing to spend state funds to provide meals to students of the schools in the program should allow Maryland to invest into other anti-hunger programs.
Regrettably, another bill, which would have eliminated the reduced-price meals category and allowed qualifying students to receive meals free of charge instead, never made it out of the House of Delegates. The bill would have allowed Maryland to feed an additional 45,000 students for just $67 per student—only $3 million per year.
It is more important than ever for Maryland to invest in fighting hunger, as the future of federal funding for anti-hunger programs is uncertain. SNAP feeds nearly 800,000 Marylanders per year, but proposals in Congress have emerged over the last few years to convert the program to a block grant, which would cut funding over time and reduce Maryland’s ability to respond to changes in demand.
To ensure adequate nutrition for all Marylanders, lawmakers need to put their money where their mouth is. Policy without the funding to support it will not stop hunger.
