For more than a decade, high-poverty schools across the country have been able to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), reducing stigma and making it easier for children to access the nutrition they need to learn and thrive. Since becoming available nationwide in the 2014–2015 school year, CEP adoption has expanded dramatically, reaching over 27 million students in the 2025–2026 school year, and has become a cornerstone strategy for reducing childhood hunger. A new study by FRAC and the Urban Institute, Expanding the Reach and Impact of School Meals: How and Why Do Changes to the Community Eligibility Provision Affect Adoption?, examines over a decade of CEP implementation and sheds light on what drives schools to participate.
Across the country, children are putting on their backpacks and returning to school. Millions of families are also struggling to make ends meet amid higher food, child care, and transportation costs.
Late Friday evening, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman (R-AR) released updated legislative text for the Farm Bill, and said he plans to hold the committee’s markup on Thursday, Aug. 6, at 9:30 a.m. ET.