Millions of low-income kids across the United States are facing a harsh reality – no access to vital federal grocery benefits due to their home states opting out of the newly launched SUMMER (SUN) Bucks program.
In a bid to alleviate hunger pangs among vulnerable populations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture rolled out SUN Bucks, allocating $2.5 billion towards ensuring these youngsters enjoy nutritious meals even outside regular schooling periods. Unfortunately, thirteen GOP-controlled states decided against participation, leaving approximately two-thirds of those initially targeted bereft of crucial sustenance.
States that chose to be left out include:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Mississippi
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Wyoming
Now, if you listen to the left, these 13 states are horrible, insensitive, and they are making decisions to stay out of the SUN program just to watch low-income kids suffer.
That’s actually not the case at all.
Many of the Republican states already have programs in place that address the needs of their low-income youth to ensure that they are being fed. They also have programs that focus more heavily on nutrition.
Wyoming superintendent of schools Megan Degenfelder explained, “I will not let the Biden administration weaponize summer school lunch programs.” Meanwhile, Iowa governor Kim Reynolds believed that the program would only give rise to more childhood obesity concerns.
Don’t worry. While the Department of Agriculture can boast a program that will help kids in some states, the states choosing not to participate aren’t going to abandon kids who need food coverage.
