Congressman David Trone Hosts School Nutrition Tele-Roundtable with Maryland Public School Leaders, Previews New Effort to Urge USDA to Provide Maximum Flexibility and Support for School Meal Programs Amid COVID-19 Crisis
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Hannah Muldavin, Hannah.Muldavin@mail.house.gov
Congressman David Trone Hosts School Nutrition Tele-Roundtable with Maryland Public School Leaders, Previews New Effort to Urge USDA to Provide Maximum Flexibility and Support for School Meal Programs Amid COVID-19 Crisis
GAITHERSBURG, Md. – Today, Congressman David Trone (MD-06) held a School Nutrition Tele-Roundtable with food and nutrition supervisors from across Maryland’s 6th District to discuss how we can ensure students have access to healthy and nutritious meals during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, one in seven Maryland children was food insecure. These numbers are increasing as families across the state feel the financial burden of the recent economic downturn. The roundtable comes in advance of a new effort spearheaded by Congressman Trone to urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to continue issuing nationwide waivers to respond to the growing need of families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The importance of school nutrition programs has become even more clear during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Congressman David Trone. “Today I heard directly from our school nutrition program leaders about the drastic increase in the number of students who need access to nutritious meals. The federal government ought to provide maximum flexibility and support to ensure these programs are able to meet the increased demand during this pandemic.”
The tele-roundtable featured representatives from Montgomery County Public Schools, Frederick County Public Schools, Washington County Public Schools, Allegany County Public Schools, Maryland Hunger Solutions, and the Food Research and Action Center.
In Congress, David Trone has made investing in school meal programs a top priority. Trone recently led a bipartisan effort, the CARE for Kids Act, to extend automatic eligibility for free school meals to certain vulnerable groups of children. Last summer, he took a tour of the district to highlight the importance of the Summer Meals Programs in schools, where he was joined by celebrity chef Bryan Voltaggio from Frederick. In his position on the Education and Labor Committee, he has supported several bills related to protecting and expanding school meal programs.
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