Food Cuts: School meals are okay as food bank warns of likely reductions
Reports airing over radio and television have shouted dangers to various federally subsidized programs that work to feed the hungry, but two local groups are continuing with business as usual.
Martha Williams, director of Nutrition and Wellnesss for Fannin County schools, said last week the federal cuts being announced are “not part of the National School Lunch Program.”
Debby Beck, executive director of Snack in a Backpack, said “I don’t see any interruption right now.”
Meanwhile, a letter from Melissa Blevins, president and CEO of the Chattanooga Area Food Bank, warned of cuts but promised the food bank would “rise above the noise and stay laser focused on making sure the basic needs in our communities are met.”
Williams said, “The actual programs that feed our children breakfast and lunch are unchanged.” Fannin County students receive both meals free every school day.
The program that is being lost is the Foods for School program, which Williams described “as truly a grant.” It had only been in effect for two years, allowing the schools to be able to purchase items from local farmers. “Things that I would not normally be able to purchase,” Williams said.
Because the program is a grant complete with extensive paperwork, many area school systems do not even participate, Williams said.
So “everything is okay” this year, Williams said, but “every year is the same thing” in providing meals for students. Many factors affect negotiating the necessary contracts, for instance, “Prices of food affect the schools just like they effect everybody else,” she said.
Williams remains steadfast in her approach to school meals. “My only job is to take care of our kids,” she said.
Snack in a Backpack also continues pressing forward with its mission to send meals home with local students.
Much of the organization’s food comes from the Chattanooga Area Food Bank.
Blevins letter warned that the food bank could see funding cuts to as much as 20 percent of its overall operations next year. She warned of federal cuts to programs that would also have a negative effect on the food bank’s nonprofit partners. “The concerns are valid and the threats are real,” she wrote.
But this is not the first time the food bank has had to rise above the noise and meet the basic needs. “We did in the pandemic, and we will do it again,” Blevins said in her letter.
The Chattanooga Area Food Bank has been working for over 50 years and now serves an area covering 20 counties.