Hunger Free Vermont urges lawmakers to preserve universal school meals, backs SNAP restaurant-meals pilot

Anora Horton, executive director of Hunger Free Vermont, told the Vermont Senate Agriculture Committee on Jan. 29 that federal nutrition programs and recent state expansions have materially increased food access across the state, but that program funding and participation remain fragile.

Horton said Hunger Free Vermont provides technical assistance, outreach and training to schools, food shelves, child-care providers and other local partners to expand equitable access to federal nutrition programs. She warned the committee that a recent federal administrative action had frozen some funding streams — an order a federal judge has temporarily paused — and that state lawmakers may need to advocate to preserve program funding at the federal level.

Horton described three program areas she said warrant attention: sustaining Universal School Meals (the state law that expanded free school meals), increasing participation in 3 Squares Vermont (Vermont’s SNAP program), and authorizing a Restaurant Meals Program (RMP) for people who cannot shop or cook at home.…