BOISE, Idaho – This week, Idaho and states across the nation are celebrating the importance of breakfast for students. President of the Idaho State Board of Education Dr. Linda Clark is reading Gov. Butch Otter's proclamation for Idaho School Breakfast Week at Capital High School this morning.

The week also recognizes the importance of services such as the National School Breakfast Program to help feed kids.

Capital High School principal Sandy Winters says students' ability to learn improves dramatically when they have eaten breakfast.

"It's also really important that the public knows that schools just don't feed students' minds, but they feed their bellies so that their minds can learn at the highest rate that they possibly can," she says.

In his proclamation, Gov. Otter credits the importance of school breakfast for defending kids against hunger and obesity. He also says there are 25,000 Idaho farms ready to work with schools to feed children and support the state's economy.

A recent study from the Food Research and Action Center shows Boise School District is feeding the kids who need it. According to the data, 90 percent of low-income students participating in the National School Lunch Program also are part of the School Breakfast Program, which is the fifth highest participation rate in the country.

Winters says about 40 percent of students at her school qualify for free and reduced-price lunches. She commends the school's kitchen staff for providing students with these meals.

"It's not even just getting food, but it's getting good, nutritious food so that they're able to meet those nutritional requirements," she adds. "So, that is important, too, is that they're getting fed but they're also getting pretty high-quality food that their body needs."

Idaho is one of 10 states in the Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom/, a program that provides funding to Idaho schools wanting to implement alternative breakfast models. It includes money for equipment, training, incentives and more.

Schools can contact the Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force/ for more information about the program.


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Congress is back in session two more weeks before the August recess. Wisconsin voices worried about the future of a key hunger relief program hope lawmakers protect its funding with a deadline looming.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - or SNAP - falls under the Farm Bill, which needs to be reauthorized by the end of September.

House Republicans have blocked efforts to maintain White House authority to make non-inflation adjustments to SNAP benefits - a move President Joe Biden made in 2021 when he carried out a record increase.

Meghan Roh, program director of the group Opportunity Wisconsin, said not having that option would put recipients at a disadvantage.

"SNAP benefits help over 700,000 Wisconsinites afford food, which is one in eight people in our state," said Roh. "And so, gutting this assistance would mean that these families have to make difficult choices."

The Congressional Budget Office says removing the provision would limit the scope of future SNAP increases by $30 billion. Advocates say that amounts to a large cut.

Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, was called out for a recent committee vote to keep the option shelved.

In a social media post, he accused Democrats of lying when saying the panel was cutting benefits.

Other Republicans say their approach protects SNAP in the event a future GOP president would want to unilaterally reduce benefits.

But Suzanne Becker, executive director of the Feed My People Food Bank in Eau Claire, said politics shouldn't come into play. She argued that elevating SNAP levels as much as possible is a wise move.

"We can never replace the impact that SNAP has on our neighbors," said Becker. "Nonprofits can't do that. We make a difference every day. We strive to, but this is a critical piece in making sure that all Americans have what they need."

Becker said the debate comes as her location sees a lot of demand among working families. Her team works with income-eligible clients to sign up for SNAP benefits, noting that it's a lifeline for older populations.

Some North Dakota leaders believe healthy food is part of what is needed to help all kids achieve better outcomes and they hope low-income families sign up for new summer food assistance to keep their children on track.

State officials say eligible households have until Aug. 30 to apply for help buying groceries for kids while they are on break. North Dakota is one of many states to accept federal funding through the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program. Families receive a card with $120 on it for each eligible child, to spend on food.

Jared Slinde, communications manager for the Great Plains Food Bank, said there has always been concern about the "summer slide," and some kids also saw their learning suffer during the pandemic.

"Kids fell off track during COVID," Slinde observed. "Maybe they didn't have the best resources, which was certainly understandable. (The) Summer EBT program can help alleviate certain struggles that kids might have."

He explained staying nourished over the summer can help put them in a better position to learn once school starts and hopefully see their test scores rebound. Kids already receiving free or reduced-priced meals during the school year were automatically enrolled in Summer EBT but officials said more children may still qualify, and their parents are encouraged to sign up.

Slinde noted there are other programs, including ones offered by Great Plains Food Bank, helping families get food over the summer. He acknowledged things like transportation barriers might prevent some from getting to the sites distributing meals. The Summer EBT option could allow them to buy groceries from a neighborhood store.

"Our mission here is to end hunger together," Slinde stressed. "Any time we can have a number of different moving parts providing food assistance, we're going to be all for this."

He added they continue to see heightened demand overall for food assistance across North Dakota. So far, 32,000 North Dakota kids have been enrolled in the summer program.


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Food Bank of Northwest Indiana is facing a surge in demand for food assistance, despite the end of the pandemic.

The facility serves about 60,000 people monthly in Lake and Porter Counties.

Victor Garcia, the operation's CEO, said food banks operate differently from food pantries and soup kitchens. Food banks source food through donations, government programs and bulk purchases to supply local agencies.

"If you think of that food pantry at your local house of worship as a grocery store, and you think of a soup kitchen as a restaurant, our core business as food banks is to be the supplier to those agency partners," Garcia explained.

Garcia pointed out before the pandemic, the food bank conducted two mobile distributions weekly, serving about 4,000 people a month. During the pandemic, this spiked to six distributions weekly, serving 14,000 people.

According to the nonprofit group Feeding Indiana's Hungry, one in seven Hoosiers is food insecure. The group also reported the hunger rate for children in Indiana is even higher at one in five or worse in 38 of Indiana's 92 counties.

Garcia noted to meet demand, his facility currently maintains five distributions each week and serves about 12,000 people each month.

"The increased cost of product is creating significant impacts," Garcia stressed. "While we're looking for donated food as much as possible, we are buying more food than we ever have as a network to meet the increase in demand."

The food bank relies heavily on community donations and volunteer efforts. Garcia emphasized every dollar donated provides three meals, and volunteers are essential, with 7,200 individuals having volunteered last year alone.


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