Urban School Food Alliance Responds: President Signs Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022

On Saturday, June 25, 2022, the President signed into law the Keep Kids Fed Act of 2022, which extends certain flexibilities for child nutrition programs and provides temporary increases in reimbursement rates for school meals and meals provided at child care centers. However, the modified bill preserves a reduced-price meal category, rather than merging the reduced-price and free meals categories into one free meal category so millions of children living in poverty would be allowed free school meals for the coming school year.

The Urban School Food Alliance applauds the original bill that the House Education and Labor Committee, along with the Senate Agriculture Committee, developed in a bipartisan effort to ensure children across America will have access to healthy, fresh, American-grown food in school.

“To block a bill that would feed millions of children in these struggling families and help these working families get back on their feet is particularly cruel,” Dr. Katie Wilson, executive director of Urban School Food Alliance, said. “The House Education and Labor Committee and the Senate Agriculture Committee worked very hard to find a bipartisan agreement on how to best mitigate hunger for children. Thank you to the rest of Congress for their work on this important bill.”