Millions of low-income American families will get help with their summer vacation food bills this year, as 35 states, all five U.S. territories and four tribal nations have opted into the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new Summer EBT program. It’ll give families that qualify for free or reduced priced lunch during the school year $40 a month per eligible child to spend at the grocery store. 

The USDA tested this program during the pandemic and found that grocery assistance filled gaps left by its existing Summer Food Service Program, which requires kids to physically show up somewhere at a specific time and eat their lunch on site. 

“It’s always reached only a fraction of the kids who rely on free and reduced price school meals,” said Crystal FitzSimon with the Food Research and Action Center. “Depending on the summer, it’s one in six or one in seven.”

And that’s because of transportation issues, distance to the meal location and working parents’ busy schedules.

“Not to mention, you know, any potential stigma associated with it,” added Emily Gutierrez with the Urban Institute.

Summer EBT gives families flexibility to buy their preferred foods, she noted. Plus, those families are probably already going to the grocery store, “as opposed to having to make another trip.”

But with grocery prices high and still rising, per Thursday’s CPI report, Gutierrez said that the extra $40 per month per kid only goes so far. 

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