USDA Announces $1.2 Billion in additional Supply Chain Assistance funds
The update: On Friday, June 2, SNA’s Board of Directors met with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to discuss the financial crisis facing school meal programs when the additional “Keep Kids Fed Act” reimbursements expire on June 30.
- During the call, Secretary Vilsack announced that USDA will issue a fourth round of Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds, or Supply Chain Assistance (SCA) funds.
This additional $1.2 billion in funds is for school district purchases of unprocessed or minimally processed domestic food products.
This additional $1.2 billion in funds is for school district purchases of unprocessed or minimally processed domestic food products.“School meal programs face a breaking point due to historically high costs, rising unpaid meal debt and increased staffing and equipment needs to meet impending nutrition standards,” said SNA President Lori Adkins, MS, CHE, SNS. “We greatly appreciate Secretary Vilsack’s commitment to support school meal programs during this challenging time and provide these critical funds to supply more U.S.-grown foods for student meals.”
Go deeper: SNA continues to urge Congress to provide a permanent school meal reimbursement rate increase. Read more in our 2023 Position Paper here.
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