SALT LAKE CITY - Many Utah students, particularly those in rural areas, often are left without access to their school's meal program during breaks in the school year. But a measure pending in Congress would extend federal food programs designed to fill in those nutrition gaps for families.

Approval of the program, called the Stop Child Hunger Act of 2021, would make pandemic-era pilot programs permanent to provide funds to replace meals during summer school breaks and unanticipated school closures.

Gina Cornia - executive director of Utahns Against Hunger - said unless lawmakers act, funding for these programs will expire at the end of the current school year.

"It's expensive to run those programs," said Cornia. "A lot of times, they're connected to summer school program. So if a district doesn't have a summer school program, they don't have a summer food program because summer school isn't all summer."

The programs provide families with kids eligible for free or reduced-cost school meals with an electronic benefits transfer - or EBT - card to cover meals missed when school is not in session.

Cornia said almost a third of all students in Utah public schools participate in one or more federally-funded meal programs.

"The last data that we have, which has been disrupted by the pandemic, about 29% of Utah kids get their meals for free or at a reduced price" said Cornia. "And that translates into more than 180,000 kids."

Cornia said the EBT program will help students with working parents or who live in rural areas without transportation to the school to have nutritious meals during breaks.

"This would really go a long way in not only addressing those gaps" said Cornia, "but giving families the freedom and the flexibility to buy the food that they want."

The bill has bipartisan support and is awaiting committee hearings in both the House and Senate.

Utahns Against Hunger does not provide direct food services but is a nonprofit agency that advises on public policy issues and advocates for federal nutrition programs.

California's new budget expands CalFresh benefits to low-income undocumented people age 55 and older, and now advocates are looking to build on their progress.

The Food4All initiative wants to remove restrictions on age and immigration status.

Asm. Miguel Santiago, D-Boyle Heights, praised the governor and Legislature for the expansion but said it is unacceptable some families still go hungry in California, the fifth-largest economy in the world.

"We were able to succeed in getting 55 and above who aren't documented into the CalFresh program," Santiago noted. "That's just one step of a long journey of a longer fight to feed people."

Nourish California estimates CalFresh keeps nearly 700,000 Californians out of poverty every year, including more than 300,000 children. The expansion will benefit 75,000 undocumented seniors but 690,000 to 840,000 Californians remain ineligible for CalFresh solely due to their immigration status.

Benyamin Chao, health and public benefits policy analyst at the California Immigrant Policy Center, said CalFresh mitigates poverty, hunger and suffering.

"It intervenes in a vicious cycle," Chao explained. "Having difficulty affording food results in families and households making hard choices, poor nutrition outcomes, poor health outcomes, and that makes it more difficult to escape from food insecurity and poverty."

Mar Velez, state policy senior manager at the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, said the need is urgent.

"There are 2.3 million undocumented residents in our state," Velez pointed out. "Two in five, or 45%, experience food insecurity. And nearly two and three, or 63%, of undocumented children experienced food insecurity."

When school districts are not able to provide summer-school classes, it can have a big effect on how children get meals. Case in point: the Mount Adams School District in the Yakima Valley, where staffing shortages mean about 800 kids won't have breakfast and lunch meal options this summer.

Groups like Yakima Valley Partners for Education and the Peacekeeper Society are stepping up to fill the gap, in communities like White Swan and Harrah.

Suzy Diaz, collective impact director of Yakima Valley Partners for Education, said a confluence of issues is leading families to choose low-quality foods.

"Families will go for low cost but also low nutrition, because it's something that is easier for families to access," Diaz explained. "Our hope is that we can all work together to support the families during this time."

Diaz pointed out inflation and high transportation costs are putting pressure on local families. Her organization provides food access which is culturally relevant for the region, with its high percentage of residents of Latin heritage. She added they have to cancel their event this week because of a heat advisory.

Carmen Mendez, food access network director for Northwest Harvest, said they have been asked to support families in the Yakima Valley and are trying to find ways to help, even as they deal with their own supply-chain issues. She noted there is a sad irony to this situation in the region.

"They're surrounded by apple orchards as far as the eyes can see, and hops and everything else," Mendez observed. "Yet they don't get to experience or enjoy any of that bounty of the valley."

Mendez emphasized a new Northwest Harvest distribution site in the Yakima Valley should be set up by December, when the group hopes to partner with local farmers to provide food access.

Diaz added families are in a difficult situation, but are thankful for the support they're receiving.

"It's always nice to see people come up and be very surprised and express their gratitude for just having community rally around them," Diaz concluded.

About one in six Washington children lives in a household facing challenges to putting enough food on the table, according to Northwest Harvest.

Households receiving benefits from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children could be able to start shopping for baby formula online, perhaps within months.

The federal government said states can apply for grants to improve their programs for people with WIC benefits. WIC participants purchase nearly half the nation's baby formula, but until now have not been able to use their benefits to get it from online retailers.

Geri Henchy, director of nutrition policy and early childhood programs at the Food Research and Action Center, said the government began testing online programs for WIC recipients last year.

"And this year, just now, they're saying that they're going to fund states to move forward with online ordering," Henchy noted. "They're inviting them to apply for this funding, and it's part of a larger effort to improve the shopping options for WIC clients."

With the ongoing formula shortage, she argued better access is especially important for new parents in rural areas. WIC monthly benefits go to people who are low-income and pregnant, postpartum, breastfeeding or have children up to age five, to help ensure these families have access to nutritious foods.

More than 100,000 Kentucky households receive WIC benefits.

Henchy explained before the nationwide shortage, WIC participants could purchase only one brand of formula. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture has lifted purchasing restrictions, and Henchy pointed out the change will remain in effect.

"Now, all the states in the Southeast have expanded the types of formulas that WIC parents can purchase, in essence, with their benefits," Henchy observed.

Henchy added WIC has been a lifeline for families during a time of unprecedented food inflation.

"Families have a guarantee of the amount of formula, they have a guarantee of the amount of cereal and juice and eggs," Henchy stressed. "They're guaranteed to get that as part of their benefits. And I think that's really important, and people are relying on it."

The Biden administration also said it will work with states to implement disaster plans to ensure households have access to formula, and improve distribution of specialty formula for infants with health conditions, in the event of a future supply-chain disruption or emergency declaration.