Federal Food Programs

The federal food programs provide important health and nutrition benefits to children, women, the elderly, and families. They are also fundamental in preventing hunger and food insecurity, which is the uncertainty of getting enough food to eat.

The federal food programs are:
- Food Stamps
- Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
- School Lunch
- School Breakfast
- Summer Food Service
- Child and Adult Care Food
- Meals in Shelters
- Afterschool Snack and Supper

>> Summaries of the programs and how to apply.

Health and nutrition benefits:
Research shows the federal food programs
• Provide regular, nutritious meals to low-income children
• Improve students’ behavior, attendance and test scores
• Improve health and reduce visits to the school nurse
• Reduce obesity and limit consumption of sodas and other less nutritious foods
• Supplement family incomes
• Strengthen after school, childcare and other programs by paying for good nutrition
• Strengthen local economies by generating millions of additional federal dollars in assistance to families and community-based organizations and schools
>> How to apply.

Preventing hunger and food insecurity:
Ending hunger will happen by lifting families out of poverty. The District of Columbia has a very high poverty rate -- 17 percent (30 percent for children under 18). One way both to support poor families and ameliorate the effects of poverty is to provide families with assistance as they work to achieve self-sufficiency. The best resources we have to fight hunger in the District are federal nutrition programs.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture pie chart describes the impact that nutrition programs have on meeting the needs of hungry people. The emergency food network plays a vital role in feeding families, but it accounts for only one tenth of the total nutrition safety net. Together the five key federal nutrition programs feed more than 1.8 billion meals per month to hungry children and families across the country. Unfortunately, many of these programs are underutilized in the District of Columbia. With the support from the community at large, we can work to increase access to these programs and ensure the proper nutrition, health and well-being of every child in the nation’s capitol.

>> Summaries of each federal food program and how to apply.

>> Federal Food & Nutrition Programs in Virginia and Federal Food & Nutrition Programs in Maryland.

>> DC Hunger Solutions Releases a New Guide to the Federal Nutrition Programs in the District of Columbia.

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