WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide $27 million in grants to three US states and two tribal nations to test innovative strategies in fighting fight childhood hunger, the Department said in a press release on Monday.
"Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced more than $27 million in grants to fund innovative projects designed help end childhood hunger,” the statement said. “These projects will be tested in Kentucky, Nevada, and Virginia, as well as the Chickasaw and Navajo tribal nations.”
Approximately 15.8 million children in the United States live in families that have experienced problems accessing food, the press release said, and USDA has designed 15 nutrition assistance programs to help such families gain access.
“The projects announced today are designed to test innovative strategies to end childhood hunger, including alternative models for service delivery and benefit levels that promote the reduction or elimination of childhood hunger and food insecurity,” the statement said.
The number of people eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, in the United States grew by 81 percent between 2007 and 2013, but started declining in 2014, according to the USDA.
Nearly half of all SNAP participants are children, and 82 percent of all SNAP benefits go to vulnerable homes that include a child, an elderly person, or a disabled person, according to the food banks network Feeding America Foundation.
