A bill introduced by Del. Neil Parrott in the General Assembly would restrict access to SNAP for an estimated 30,000 Marylanders. HB 957 would force every jurisdiction in the state to limit certain unemployed and underemployed SNAP recipients to receiving benefits for just three months in a three-year period. This law would increase hunger and poverty in our state. Learn more.
SNAP is a proven tool to reduce hunger and poverty in Maryland and across the country. However, new research finds that many Marylanders who are eligible for SNAP are not participating in the program. The number of eligible people not participating in SNAP by county ranges from 25 percent in Baltimore City to over 60 percent in Montgomery County. Check out Maryland Hunger Solutions’ new research brief, Missed Opportunities: An Analysis of SNAP Participation in Maryland by County, and the accompanying map, for more information on SNAP participation by county in Maryland. Listen to the story on WAMU, too!
The 2019 Legislative Session of the General Assembly is in full swing, and Maryland Hunger Solutions testified before the House Appropriations Committee on January 29, 2019 in support of House Bill 84 and the Maryland Farms and Families Fund. Read our testimony.
On October 9, we came together in Annapolis for the 8th annual Fighting Hunger in Maryland conference, which included four award presentations, eight panels, nine roundtable discussions, 48 speakers and over 150 participants, which add up to one very successful conference! Check out highlights from the conference including presentations, pictures, and media coverage.
More than 1.2 million low-income children benefited from afterschool suppers on an average weekday in October 2017, an 11 percent increase from the previous year, according to the Food Research & Action Center’s annual Afterschool Suppers: A Snapshot of Participation report. Find out more…
Despite an improving economy, 12.6 percent of households in Maryland reported that they struggled to buy enough food for themselves and their families during 2016–2017, according to a new report released by the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC, a national anti-hunger advocacy group).
Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report, a new report from the Food Research & Action Center, ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia on participation in the Summer Nutrition Programs. Maryland ranked No. 8 this year in ensuring children across the city have access to nutrition when school is out for the summer. Nearly 64,000 children received a nutritious summer meal at the 1,357 summer meals sites across the state on an average weekday in July 2017, according to the report. Many of Maryland’s summer meals sites offer enrichment or educational programming alongside meals, which helps to combat summer learning loss and reduce any stigma associated with attending a site that provides only meals.
In Maryland’s 2018 legislative session, two important bills passed that will reduce childhood hunger. SB 818 (pdf) provides additional funding to the Maryland Meals for Achievement Program, and HB 315 (pdf) ensures more low-income students can access free school meals by eliminating the reduced-price co-pay for school meals. And Maryland lawmakers did the right thing and voted down HB 1273 (pdf), a bill that would have made it more difficult for certain groups to access SNAP benefits. Read MDHS’ testimonies before the Maryland General Assembly for each of these bills.
More low-income children in Maryland are starting their day with a healthy school breakfast. According to Creating Healthier Students & Better Learners with the School Breakfast Program: School Breakfast Report Card for Maryland (pdf), 49 percent of low-income students in Maryland’s public schools participated in the national School Breakfast Program in the 2016–2017 school year. Participation has risen consistently since the 2010–2011 school year, when less than one-third of low-income Maryland students participated in school breakfast. Learn more…
For the past 10 years, we’ve worked tirelessly to end hunger and improve the health and well-being of Marylanders in need by expanding participation in the federal nutrition programs. Check out our latest report, Maryland Hunger Solutions: 10 Years of Addressing Hunger and Improving Lives.