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.

OGDEN, Utah - Utah is one of only a handful of states that taxes food, but one state legislator says taxing groceries should become a thing of the past.

The state currently charges a 1.75% tax on food, while some counties and cities across Utah can add to that, up to a total of 3%. But state Rep. Rosemary Lesser, D-Ogden, said she thinks the state needs to find other sources of revenue. She said the food tax is especially onerous for low-income families and retirees on fixed incomes.

"For people who are living paycheck to paycheck, the food demands don't change," she said, "and people sometimes have to choose between a roof over their head and finding food from whatever sources they can."

About one in 10 Utah households is considered food insecure, without consistent access to enough nutritious food. Lesser said she plans to introduce legislation in January to roll back the food tax. Proponents of the tax say it's a tool to reduce the state's income tax.

USDA research has shown that low-income families spend 36% of their income on food, while higher-income families spend as little as 8%. Lesser said that with food prices on the rise, working families need all the help they can get.

"People, regardless of inflation, still need food," she said, "and I think that as a state, we need to do everything we possibly can to lessen the risk of food insecurity."

Lesser was part of a bipartisan coalition in 2019 that blocked a plan to raise food taxes to almost 5%. She said polls show 67% of Utahns oppose the food tax, and she sees overwhelming support to end it.

"So this really, in my mind, does cross a number of political lines, and it's a consensus item - that people in Utah appreciate that taxing a basic necessity is not a good path forward."

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A new survey of Ohioans confirms assistance programs have been a lifeline for families reeling from the effects of the pandemic.

The findings from The Center for Community Solutions showed that nearly all forms of public assistance and benefits saw increased use during the pandemic, with 45% of Ohio households reporting a loss of employment income and 78% struggling to afford living expenses.

Lead study author Alex Dorman said most of the people surveyed said they also experienced food insecurity.

"What absolutely shocked me," he said, "was the high number of lower- and middle-income households in Ohio that not only were worrying about running out of food, but at one point did experience running out of food during the pandemic."

In the survey, 40% of households said they've turned to food banks in the pandemic, compared with about 20% who did so before. There also was a 12% increase in the use of unemployment insurance and a 7% increase in people who received SNAP benefits.

Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, said it's clear that pandemic-assistance programs improved the lives of those hit hardest. The concern now, she noted, is what happens when temporary assistance ends.

"We have learned very valuable lessons during this crisis," he said, "and we need to make sure that we understand that there is interdependency between the health and safety and the overall well-being of our hungry friends and neighbors."

Hamler-Fugitt said she also sees a new awareness of the role food pantries and charities play in responding to the needs of the community.

"It's a combination of both public and private," she said, "but we need to make sure that we've got a strong safety net and support basic needs - like food, personal care, the capacity of food banks and food pantries to effectively and efficiently be able to serve their communities at large."

She contended that means passing public policies such as the "Build Back Better" plan in Congress. She said she believes it would strengthen communities through investments such as the refundable Child Tax Credit that's helped many Ohio families meet basic needs.

RICHMOND, Va. - Demand at Virginia food banks has skyrocketed during the pandemic, and a new effort aims to get these community lifelines fully stocked with healthier items.

Ahead of the Richmond Heart Walk, the American Heart Association is collecting nutritious, nonperishable foods to deliver to local food pantries in the Tri-Cities area. Research has shown that food insecurity can lead to hypertension and diabetes, risk factors for heart disease.

Xiomara Encarnacion, Latinx outreach coordinator at the Chesterfield Food Bank, said finding healthy, affordable food for the region's growing Hispanic and Latino population can be difficult.

"It's very hard to find food that is appropriate for our culture, but also, the prices are very expensive," she said. "If you want to buy something that's organic, it's double the price. We offer that at the food bank. People do wait for hours and hours, because that's the best choice for them at this time."

The Richmond Heart Walk is to start at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 23 at Libbie Mill. The American Heart Association already is taking donations, which can be dropped off at the group's office in Glen Allen. Bulk pickups also can be arranged.

Zakia McKensey is executive director of the Nationz Foundation, a health nonprofit serving Virginia's LGBTQ community. The foundation offers a food pantry in its Richmond office, as well as with pantries in its mobile HIV testing units. McKensey said since the pandemic, the foundation has been busy trying to ensure people in need of its services have access to fresh food.

"They were already dealing with oppression and unemployment and housing instability, and with the pandemic happening, everything is just compounded," she said. "We've been really diligent about making sure that our doors stay open, that we provide safe interactions for our staff, to continue to meet the needs of the communities that we serve."

Heart Walk attendees also can drop off last-minute donations at the event. Some of the donations AHA is asking for include canned beans and fruits, whole-wheat pasta, and more.