Last week, the Obama administration announced two new initiatives aimed at reducing childhood food insecurity in America. Both measures, which will simplify enrollment in the National School Lunch Program and provide supplemental food benefits during the summer months, should go beyond benefiting hungry kids—they could be a boon to the government's bottom line.
The first initiative is a line item in the president's 2017 budget (still subject to Congressional approval) to implement a permanent Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children program, which provides supplemental food assistance benefits in the summer months to families with children who receive free or reduced-price school lunches during the school year. These children are often at a greatly increased risk of food insecurity in the summertime, when they're not receiving free meals at school; small trials of this program in a few states have significantly reduced insecurity during those months.
[For more of this story, written by Dwyer Gunn, go to http://www.psmag.com/business-...-especially-for-kids]
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