Sep 23, 2020

ARLINGTON, VA— FMI - The Food Industry Association commends the House for extending the very successful P-EBT children’s feeding program in its bipartisan FY21 continuing resolution stopgap funding bill, which passed overwhelmingly with a 359-to-57 vote. FMI's Vice President of Political Affairs, Hannah Walker, offered the following statement: 

“FMI has actively pursued the extension of P-EBT as it has proven to effectively reach children who would typically receive free or reduced school lunches, but are missing these meals due to their schools being closed or operating with reduced hours as a result of COVID-19. 

“The P-EBT feeding program allows families that typically rely on the school lunch program for meals and snacks during the regular school day to receive benefits they can redeem at their authorized Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) retail store to buy food. By integrating P-EBT into the SNAP system, families are able to shop at their local grocery store without increased burden for all stakeholders. This program did not require any additional programming or operational changes for SNAP retailers and there is no additional application process for eligible families. 

“FMI thanks the House Leadership, including Chairwoman Fudge, for its work to ensure that families continue to have access to federal feeding programs - like SNAP and P-EBT - that utilize the efficiencies of the private sector supply chain, which provides all customers with the safest, most abundant and affordable food supply in the world.  While much has been done to ensure families have access to food, more can always be accomplished. To help in this effort, FMI created a video that can help families new to the program understand how to apply for and access EBT benefits and navigate the SNAP/P-EBT shopping experience. 

“FMI strongly encourages the Senate to act quickly to extend this important program to help feed children during these most challenging times.”