Food Access & Food Insecurity

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, commonly known as WIC, provides nutritious food, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and health care referrals to pregnant and postpartum women and families with young children with low income. WIC participation improves…

Nutrition Policy Institute School Meals for All research was featured in a guest article in the summer issue of the California School Boards Association’s quarterly magazine, California Schools. The article highlights California’s School Meals for All policy, also known as universal school meals,…

The IssueIn Sutter County, 34% of residents speak a language other than English at home, with commonly spoken languages including Spanish, Hmong, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu. The Sutter County Adult Education English as a Second Language (ESL) Program is free to all adults and is designed to strengthen…

A new study examining the impact of federal and state Universal Free School Meal policies highlights how expanding access to school meals can help address food insecurity, reduce barriers to meal participation such as stigma and paperwork, and improve children’s diet quality, health, and academic outcomes…

The Nutrition Policy Institute’s CalFresh Healthy Living Evaluation team, in collaboration with the California Department of Public Health, is thrilled to announce recognition of 123 schools, 85 out-of-school time programs, and 106 early care and education programs across California as recipients of the 2025…

Research by the Nutrition Policy Institute’s CalFresh Healthy Living team highlights the importance of providing tailored resources and support for nutrition and physical activity in childcare settings to create equitable early childhood environments. CalFresh Healthy Living, known nationally as SNAP-Ed,…

The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP nationally and CalFresh in California, is the nation’s largest nutrition assistance program. It supports over 41 million families with low-income by providing monthly food benefits. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently …

In a new study published in the Journal of School Health, researchers sought to understand food service directors’ perceptions of why some students were not participating in school meals even when they were served free of charge to all public school students in the U.S. during the COVID-19…

A new study showed statewide School Meals for All policies are associated with lower prevalence of household food insecurity, particularly among families with lower incomes. Researchers surveyed 3,377 caregivers of school-aged children from eight states—four with universal school meal policies including…