Hunger Free Oklahoma Blog

In a significant effort to address and tackle pressing food security challenges, Stacy Dean, the highest-ranking official in USDA’s food security division, is visiting eastern Oklahoma today and tomorrow to meet with Hunger Free Oklahoma and others to discuss vital updates and initiatives concerning food security.

Nearly two decades ago, when I began working with youth, my responsibilities were to build an afterschool space for kids to have fun, play, eat a snack, and send them on their way home. Each year, I learned a little more about the youth enrolled in my program and how to not only help them, but their whole families.

Despite the May 26 deadline for regular session rapidly approaching, work for Oklahoma’s legislators is far from over. House and Senate leadership finally reached an agreement on this session’s vigorously debated education budget.

“To reach more families and feed more children, building strong community partnerships is what it is all about.” -Roe Worbes, Superintendent, Altus Public Schools. 

Balanced and secure nutrition contributes to students’ success in and out of the classroom, playing a critical role in their overall health and academic achievement. “Most US children attend school for six hours a day and consume as much as half their daily calories at school.”

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federal nutrition program that helps low-income families. Service members that receive the Basic Housing Allowance (BAH) especially struggle to qualify for SNAP, as BAH counts as income when determining SNAP eligibility. Currently, active-duty military access to SNAP is insufficient, and it is imperative that Congress works towards excluding BAH as income for SNAP eligibility.

As every parent feeding a child knows, food prices are rising at historic rates.  
In 2022, the price of grocery store or supermarket food purchases increased by 11.4 percent, according to USDA’s Economic Research Service. Food prices are expected to grow more slowly in 2023, but still at above-historical rates. In 2023, grocery prices are predicted to increase 7.8 percent.  

With May rapidly approaching, it’s crunch time for many legislators and advocates. April 27 is the deadline for the third reading of any active bills in their opposite chamber, so we anticipate another busy week at the Capitol. Here’s a status update on the remaining bills we’re tracking (including some that have already successfully reached the Governor’s desk!)

As the current Congress nears its end, federal lawmakers are negotiating one final spending package that could impact food security programs. At the time of writing, the just-released mega-bill includes:

by Alissa Snider, Hunger Outreach Program Specialist Earlier this month, HFO team members joined the Oklahoma Library Association (OLA) annual conference in Norman. During this two-day event, HFO staff engaged with public, school-based, and university library staff about opportunities to address hunger in their communities. HFO had the opportunity to share ways to get connected […]