Tag: school meals

RALEIGH

A prolonged federal government shutdown could make it harder for North Carolina families already facing food stamp cuts to get their benefits and school meals.

Federal officials are warning that if the shutdown continues past October, it could impact services such as how much families get in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and school meal services. The shutdown impact looms after federal food assistance cuts were put into law over the summer in the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

“Like everybody else, we hope that the shutdown does not go for an extended period of time,” Wake County Superintendent Robert Taylor said at a press conference Monday at Oak Grove Elementary School in Raleigh. “But that is the unpredictability about what that shutdown means and how it impacts various programs.”

Local and state leaders, farmers and advocacy groups held a Child Nutrition Roundtable Monday at Oak Grove to mark National School Lunch Week and Farm To School Month. Roundtable attendees urged state lawmakers to provide $4.4 million to fund summer nutrition programs and buy produce from farmers to provide to schools.

’Insufficient funds’ for full SNAP benefits

The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1 after Congress was unable to agree on a plan to keep the government running. Republicans and Democrats have pointed the blame at each other for the shutdown.

The Trump administration has warned states there are “insufficient funds’ to pay full SNAP benefits for 42 million people if the government shutdown runs past October, Axios reported. States were told not to load electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards for November for SNAP recipients “until further notice.”

In North Carolina, 1.4 million people “rely on SNAP to help put nutritious and healthy food on the table,” according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.

“Food and nutrition are foundational to good health and people should not have to worry about their families and communities going hungry” NC DHHS Secretary Dev Sangvai said in a press release last week. “NCDHHS hopes for a quick resolution to the federal shutdown to ensure people in North Carolina are not at risk of losing critical food benefits.”

Some families who are eligible for SNAP benefits aren’t applying due to the shutdown, according to Abby Emanuelson, executive director of the North Carolina Alliance for Health.

Funds for 3 months of school meals

An extended government shutdown could impact school meal programs.

Public schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program are reimbursed by the federal government. The U.S. department of Agriculture has told the Council of Chief State School Officers that the agency typically has funding on hand for three months of school meals following a shutdown.

In an Oct. 1 memo to North Carolina schools, State Superintendent Mo Green said the Department of Agriculture is unlikely to issue any guidance on school meals until closer to that three-month mark.

“In response, our School Nutrition Office has taken proactive steps to secure funding to cover your September meals (typically reimbursed after October 10),” Green said. “Should the shutdown continue after these funds are exhausted, there may be delays in processing your October claims (which are normally reimbursed after November 10).”

If the shutdown become protracted, schools may have to reduce their meal services.

Taylor, the Wake superintendent, said Monday they don’t have specific data yet on when the district’s school meal program might run into trouble. In recent years, Wake has cited rising costs for raising school meal prices.

Fewer students could get free school meals

The shutdown worries come after the “One Big Beautiful Bill” President Donald Trump signed into law July 4 called for $186 billion in SNAP cuts by 2035.

Families will face tighter eligibility requirements to receive SNAP benefits. Additionally, receiving SNAP will no longer automatically result in receiving free school meals.

SNAP recipients will have to fill out paperwork to send to their child’s school to continue to get free school meals.

Up to 850,000 North Carolina children may no longer qualify for free or reduced price meals due to the SNAP changes, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.

The eligibility changes could result in many North Carolina schools no longer qualifying for a federal program that provides free school breakfasts and lunches to all their students.

“The federal shutdown, the impending cost shift to the states for SNAP is is a big concern to us, because it’s going to have such a ripple effect on school meals,” Emanuelson of the North Carolina Alliance for Health said in an interview.

Programs will ‘help hungry kids’

Attendees at Monday’s Child Nutrition Roundtable said state lawmakers can help mitigate the impact of federal funding cuts by providing $2.5 million to fund the Farm to School program and $1.9 million for the Sun Bucks programs.

In March, the USDA slashed more than $1 billion from its Local Food Purchase Assistance and Local Food for Schools programs which allowed schools, child care centers and states to buy food directly from local farmers, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.

Advocates of the Farm To School program said a a small investment of $2.5 million in state funds will help farmers financially to continue to provide healthy produce to North Carolina schools. Under the Farm to School program, Tidewater Grain Company in Pamlico County provides products such as rice to Wake County and other North Carolina school systems.

“Having hungry kids fuels no purpose for any party, no matter which side of the aisle you’re on,” said Tommy Wheeler, founder of Tidewater Grain Company “And putting money into our local economies is always good business.”

Advocates say providing $1.9 million to continue the SUN Bucks program will help ensure students don’t go hungry in the summer when school is out. The program allows parents to get $120 per child to buy groceries during the summer, The News & Observer previously reported.

They’re asking for a small and reasonable amount of money, according to Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, a Wake County Democrat.

“These are programs that have been proven to work, that are going to help hungry kids,” Chaudhuri said. “You know, at the end of the day, I guess kids don’t have a lobbyist lobby on their behalf.

“I feel like we’re trying to do something that each of us know from our own personal and professional experience, and so I’m trying to stay optimistic that we can try to get those dollars and put them to work to help feed the kids.”

This story was originally published October 13, 2025 at 5:04 PM.