Food Policy Council highlights Sun Bucks pilot, urges targeted action to address food access east of Anacostia

Summary

At the same Jan. 29 hearing, the Food Policy Council and community groups described the first year of Summer EBT in D.C. (Sun Bucks), urged changes to food policy and investments to tackle what witnesses described as ‘‘food apartheid’’ in Wards 7 and 8, and asked for sustained resources for nutrition incentive programs and urban agriculture.

The Committee on Health heard public testimony Jan. 29 about the District’s Food Policy Council, the first year of the federal Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer pilot (Sun Bucks), and a range of local food‑access programs and proposals to increase grocery access east of the Anacostia River.

Caroline Howe, food policy director at the Office of Planning and liaison to the Food Policy Council, told the committee the council and agency partners helped implement Sun Bucks in FY24, which brought ‘‘over $7,000,000 federal dollars to give $120 each to 58,000 children in the District’’ and additional administrative funds to help get benefits to families over the summer. Howe said the program was paired with the district’s ongoing summer meals program and that the food policy team developed a customer service portal, supported six community outreach grants and trained community organizations to help families apply.

Witnesses described gaps that remain. Jaren Hill Lockridge of Dreaming Out Loud urged the committee to stop using…

Food Policy Council highlights Sun Bucks pilot, urges targeted action to address food access east of Anacostia

Summary

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