Wyoming is one of 15 states to opt out of a new U.S. Department of Agriculture program that aims to supplement family food needs when school isn’t in session. Though Wyoming’s education chief said the program is extraneous, food-assistance leaders say existing programs could use more help to serve the state’s struggling families.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder said the new Biden administrative initiative, known as Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer, is a welfare program mis-marketed as a program for kids.
“I will not let the Biden Administration weaponize summer school lunch programs to justify a new welfare program,” Degenfelder said in a statement emailed to WyoFile. “Thanks, but no thanks. We will continue to combat childhood hunger the Wyoming way.”
Not everyone sees it that way, however. The state relies on a patchwork of programs that complement one another to fight hunger, several Wyoming food-assistance representatives told WyoFile, and this USDA benefit would be one more way to increase access to quality food.
Picking up a free meal “is not the same as having nutritious food in the home throughout the season when school is not open,” Feeding Laramie Valley founder Gayle Woodsum said.
Food assistance in Wyoming requires a lot of collaboration and cooperation, she added. “We are all in this together, let’s pool our resources … We’d be happy to help the state figure out like, ‘what does the state need to do more of this?’”
Becky Packer works for the Backpack Program in Lander, which is administered through the Fremont County School System and orders food from the Food Bank of Wyoming. Volunteers pack food for a family of four into backpacks and drop them at schools. Those bags are then sent home to provide kids and their families sustenance for the weekend — when free school meals aren’t available.
Packer thinks the new USDA program would be a helpful supplement to her initiative and others.
“I think it would be great if [Wyoming] could use that program,” she said.
Grocery help
The new USDA-funded summer program will work like this: States provide families with $120 per eligible child in the form of a benefits card to buy food at grocery stores, farmers markets or other authorized retailers.
The idea is to bolster access during summer, when schools that provide free and reduced-price meals to students who qualify aren’t in session.
USDA estimates the inaugural program will serve close to 21 million children this summer, providing a total of nearly $2.5 billion in grocery benefits. Some 35 states, five territories and four Native American tribes have signed on. Wyoming’s Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes are also not among first-year participants.
The permanent program was approved as part of a bipartisan budget agreement in 2022.
Summer electronic benefit transfers, commonly known as EBT, reduce child hunger and improve diet quality, according to evaluations of a multi-year demonstration project cited by the agency. Project benefits decreased the number of kids with very low food security by about one-third and supported healthier diets, USDA said.
In some communities, families who need food over the summer can pick up meals at a central location. But those meal sites historically only reach 1 in 6 children who are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals during the school year, according to USDA.
There is value in empowering families by allowing them the kind of food choices the electronic benefits furnish, Woodsum of Feeding Laramie Valley said.
“Having the choice, having the power to actually make decisions about the nutrition level in your home as opposed to ‘this is all I can afford to buy,’ addresses all kinds of things,” she said. “It’s addressing health issues, poverty issues. It’s not as simple as just food.”
Fighting food insecurity is complicated, she said, and one-size-fits-all programs can’t meet all the varied needs. Some families don’t have the means to shuttle their children to scheduled summer meals, for example.
But Degenfelder, who Gov. Mark Gordon’s office directed WyoFile to for comment on the decision, said she is committed to improving Wyoming’s existing program.
“Wyoming already has a school-based nutrition program available during the summer that directly serves kids and I am committed to making this program easier for students to access, no matter where they live,” Degenfelder said.
Along with participating in the National School Lunch Program, a federally assisted program that provides low-cost or no-cost lunches to children living in eligible areas each school day, Wyoming also participates in the federally assisted Summer Food Service program.
The summer program feeds kids by opening meal sites — hosted by sponsors like schools or camps — where children can get a meal. Meal sites are located in areas where the local school or census block has greater than 50% eligibility for free and reduced lunches.
Summer meals are furnished to kids 18 or younger, with no eligibility requirements or questions. There were 96 Wyoming sites last summer in 31 communities across 16 of the state’s 23 counties, according to the Wyoming Department of Education.
Wyoming’s First Lady Jennie Gordon has put a major emphasis on fighting food insecurity with her Wyoming Hunger Initiative. Gordon is utilizing her platform to increase awareness and support the work of local organizations across Wyoming to benefit children, according to her spokesperson Trista Ostrom.
“Wyoming Hunger Initiative does not accept state or federal funding and defers to state and federal agencies for the development and implementation of those government programs,” a statement from Gordon’s office said.
Meeting food needs
At 11.4%, Wyoming’s average prevalence of household food insecurity between 2020-2022 is slightly higher than the U.S. average of 11.2%, according to the Department of Agriculture.
That said, the Food Bank of Wyoming “feels that that number is much higher right now,” Executive Director Rachel Bailey said. The organization’s partners are asking for more food, she said. “We also have increased the amount of food that we’re distributing in communities by about 10%” from a year ago.
Stacy Stebner directs the Lander Care and Share Food Bank, where she said demand has “skyrocketed.” Before COVID, “our food bank was serving around 1,000 people per month,” she said. “And since COVID, it’s anywhere from 1,500 to 1,800 people.”
“Right now, there are a lot of Wyoming individuals and families that are struggling,” Bailey said, due in part to the end of COVID-era benefits along with inflated prices. There are more families with children seeking out assistance for the first time, she said. Bailey didn’t comment on the EBT program specifically, but also said a range of options is ideal.
“Yes, there are a lot of really amazing programs that are here in the state,” Bailey said. “But I think that families need to be able to have the ability to apply for programs so that they can go get healthy and nutritious groceries at the grocery store, as well as being able to reach out to their local food pantry, or food for kids program.”
Stebner echoed that.
“There’s already so much pressure on the nonprofit sector to fill the gap between what people need to survive and what they can afford,” Stebner said.
USDA is providing assistance, training and tools to participants, according to the federal agency. States and tribes that do not launch the program this summer will have future opportunities to opt in, according to the USDA.
Shame on the Governor and Degenfelder, dragging this state further backwards! Your salaries should be cut to cover more monies that should be available for these programs! Stop acting like the Maga followers that you are and try to find a compassionate , empathetic place in your hearts for the children of Wyoming!! We need more love and BLUE in this state!!
Degenfelder ran as a moderate, but has proven to be yet another right wing lunatic who delights in the suffering of hungry children.
I wrote to the Gov about this stupid decision and got the same drivel back from the Education Superintendent. Gordon should be smarter than this, his wife claims food security as her big ‘thing’. HA
“If they don’t have bread let them eat cake.” It is reported that Marie Antoinette said words similar to that. Her peasants were starving. Marie Antoinette was beheaded by guillotine..
What really pisses me off is all the federal money that our state turns down and then they want us to believe they are broke.
I pay a good deal in federal taxes every year. I don’t mind paying taxes as it takes money to run a country and a state. What I do mind is that my money is going to other states.
My money is helping people in California get healthcare. My money is going to other states to help feed kids. My money is being turned down by our friendly, freedom being turned down by our friendly freedom caucus oriented Republicans (FFCOR) and sent to other states to help them.
My money is being “weaponized against me.”I generously contribute to food banks to food, pantries, and dog shelters. However, I want my federal tax dollars to help people and kids in my state. Megan-Degan needs to stop being politically correct begin being Wyoming correct. I was born in Wyoming and I’ve lived here 67 years. I am pretty sure I know what the Wyoming way is and this is not it.
Hungry kids are not a political tool. I am guessing some strings were attached to the money. Most federal programs have strings attached, but we work around it. In my opinion, this is an attack on kids and that is just wrong
So. If Megan Degan can explain to me why she is giving up the money I might be better, but from what I’ve seen is just another political stunt. Shame on you, Governor Gordon.
Hey,Megan, What does the current head of the administration in Washington DC. have to do with feeding hungry kids in Wyoming? I wonder what Jennie Gordon thinks of this decision? Maybe WYO-File could ask?
Yes, when campaigning,
Degenfelder seemed open-minded and reasonable. I didn’t see this person at all…
They have no bread? Then let them eat coal.
Remembering how reasonable Megan Degenfelder was when looking for votes in Teton County. Sad to see the cross wearing person now using the radical right terms of weaponization and any language that shuts down conversation and pits citizen against citizen. In other words, the new Republican playbook. No policy, just make us all mad at each other with grievance on top of grievance- mostly imagined. When feeding children during the summer becomes a weapon of the government, maybe time to have a rethink. Should we just keep celebrating that we are number one in suicides possibly because we are supposed to never get help and pull ourselves up by the non working bootstraps. I would invite Megan to volunteer at a foodbank and actually see the people she is denigrating. Let’s just sit back and enjoy dining on ideology.
A new definition of the “Wyoming Way”. In Degenfelder’s and Gordon’s world its “Starve those kids! They have no worth.” Despicable. We are talking a supplement of $40.00 /per kid for 3 months. Not much but quite a bit if kids need a little extra in the summer because they aren’t getting the school lunch and the drop off is a sack lunch. The Wyoming Way according to the Republican party. Carry every conception to birth then don’t provide food healthcare or education.
Duh. It is so much better for kids and families to have them to eat at home rather than go to and from a feeding site. This program is a great idea for poor families coping with high food prices and it’s idiotic that so many GOPs deliberately choose not to offer it.
You have to look at this the way the GQP’ers do. If you give food to children, they will just expect to eat every day. Can’t have that.
Another example of example of our two most precious exports, minerals and children.
Can someone provide factual info., including budget numbers perhaps, on the reasoning behind Wyoming AND Wyoming’s Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes’ decisions not to opt in? (It’s hard to find this information online.) Ideology? Administrative costs or limitations? Timing issues? The argument that it’s actually unnecessary? Meanness? Lack of understanding about the program?
Looks like we are trying to equal to Mississippi.
Good for Ms Degenfelder for rejecting the strings attached USDA support. To help makes ends meet the food pantries and associated support services should make sure that people know how to make a contribution to their organizations. All Wyoming residents who are capable should consider donating to the pantries in their areas. We need to take care of our own communities first.
The problem with our current funding is that donations do not meet the growing needs in our communities. In the Wyoming food desert, nutrition is already scarce. Just as we have rejected health care funds which are so necessary, additional fòod dollars, regardless of funding, are a basic need. Housing is already unaffordable and is creating increased expense for already struggling families. For the sake of anti.federal ideology, we are harming our own children and the state will pay for it in more education revenue demands to mitigate impacts caused by deprivation of nutrition resources to our most vulnerable children.
To Jim Seidel – “Strings?” Exactly what are those “strings?” Explain.
I guess “welfare” is a dirty word for the Superintendent of Schools!
This is supposed to be an educated woman and advocate for children but her remarks echoed of political bias and she needs to remove her blinders and do what’s right for her family’s!
Inflation is down to 3.4 but companies continue to charge at higher levels! As President Biden asked these food related companies to lower their prices to appropriate levels he said price gouging will not be tolerated!
Keep anything having to do with today’s feds out of Wyoming.
This is unbelievable. “Thanks but no thanks,” to food for kids? I guess it should not be so surprising coming from the same leaders who have been turning down Medicare expansion funds for years. But still disappointing, nonetheless..
I would suggest that it isn’t just the food but all the attachment list of new requirements, regulations, or rules now required or that come with the gift of the food that make them hesitant. So many of these government programs have attachments or make the receiver obligated in some way. Much of what happens in school system money is that way. It takes away the control of local school, or school district as well as the state. So I’m not sure this isn’t a cause of not wanting to take care of people.
Kasey McCooken -You’re speaking in generalities.What are those “new requirements, regulations, or rules?” What are they, and what’s wrong with them?
The pro-birth religious zealots should learn compassion and empathy. Instead, they choose to pander to their fringe base. Sadly, there will be comments supporting the lack of compassion that’s directed towards kids. Those that do defend this nonsense will almost certainly claim to be “christian”..
“What you are shouts so loudly in my ears that I cannot hear what you say” – emerson
Wyoming did NOT reject USDA aid, their legislators did that. These people do NOT represent the people they claim they do, they represent hate and fear, but not most Wyomingites do not share their views as to food and children. I recommend all of us consider that in deciding who to vote for.
So sad. I work in public services to mostly low income families. I can guarantee that the pickup sites have crap food. Food served on site is better, but not all kids can get there. The best solution is an expansion in SNAP for summer, but all families on free or reduced price school lunches don’t necessarily receive SNAP. If you have never faced food insecurity yourself, or fear you can’t feed your kids, you have absolutely no business preaching against these programs. I’m sure the governors of all of these states that have rejected it, never had to wonder where their next meal was coming from.
I am always confused by two juxtaposed assertions, America is the wealthiest country, and 1 in 5 of its children do not have enough to eat. Wish Supt. Degenfelder could shed some light on that. When the Supt. refers to the program as a Biden initiative, that’s a red flag, that it’s about politics, not about kids. The Wyoming Lemming Party leads the way.
Wyoming seems to often turn down money for people who need food and medical help, but seldom, if ever, turns down money for energy companies or farmers and ranchers.
According to USDA info I could find, the summer nutrition program that the state is turning down would serve 32,000 kids and give the state $3,840,000 to cover the cost.
In 2023 Wyoming 397 farmers and ranchers were paid subsides of about $3,400,000 in one USDA program. I don’t remember ever seeing where the state government has turned down money for farmers and ranchers and I’m not saying it should.
What I am saying is that our kids are a very valuable asset for our future and should be treated as such.
And Degenfelder was the less crazy of the 2 Republican primary candidates!
So sad to see the way the WY Republicans let their political grandstanding get in the way of benefits for our state’s population. Of course their years of refusing to expand Medicaid coverage is another glaring example.
Big talk but failure to act. Do the schools offer lunch during breaks and summer…..NO! Let the children go hungry while you grandstand, despicable.
If kids could eat republicans “thoughts and prayers” they would all be overweight, unfortunately we need some real solutions.
Amen.
Exactly. Shameful.
M. Degenfelder is wrong on so many levels. The hardcores in her party have always declared any sort of food and income assistance to be Welfare, and always a negative thing seen thru their narrow slits. The only positive thing I can say about Megan is she’s consistent. The Force of Regressive Republican conservatism is strong in that one. Her use of the term ” weaponizing ” welfare is ominous. I’m guessing Megan has never had to wonder where her next meal is coming from at any point in her privileged life.
I do have to ask: WyoFile correctly asked the Governor first about the federal USDA summertime neo-food stamp program. Without hesitation he immediately lateraled the hot potato to the Education secretary. I would like to hear Mark Gordon’s unfiltered answer nevertheless. He should have taken the question.
Amen.
P.S. I believe the decision to accept or reject the USDA Summer EBT program was the Governor’s , exclusively . Mark Gordon . Once made , it should be his Education Secretary’s job to execute that decision . Isn’t that how the executive branch is supposed to work ? Yet Gordon gave it to Degenfelder straightaway . Why ?
I emailed Gordon on this saying our failing to pursue the aid was shameful. Kudos to his spokesperson (Finnerty) for at least responding right away. She said Gordon agreed with Degenfelder’s decision. I wish he had condemned her divisive rhetoric. Can’t have a new program helping those who need help – especially if introduced while Biden is President. But we can continue to let ranchers graze on public lands for less than market rates; we can continue to have 529 college savings programs so parents and grandparents can dodge taxes, we can continue to have bankruptcy rules bailing out corporations. Those aren’t welfare, Megan?
Good article! We should use every means possible to keep our children fed. It’s not complicated!
Get ’em born and then let ’em starve – that’s the Wyoming Way.
“Thanks, but no thanks. We will continue to combat childhood hunger the Wyoming way.”
Didnt the “Wyoming way” cause the issue in the first place? What’s her plan, put the kids in the coal mine?
Meanwhile there is an NRCS office and Conservation District in every county in Wyoming who’s sole job is to write checks to ranchers, yet its only “welfare” when the money could be helping low and middle class people.
Too bad Degenfelder’s politics gets in the way of feeding kids. Weaponize, indeed.
It’s a political position . . . unless you are hungry.
Degenfelder’s use of the word “weaponization” was particularly distressing. School lunches are not weapons – or shouldn’t be – and using that kind of language in this context trivializes the experiences of far too many people in our world who live the trauma of real weapons and war every day. It also would have been enlightening to learn exactly what the Depr of Ed plans to do to make its existing lunch program “easier for students to access, no matter where they live,” per Degenfelder’s quote. The EBT-based federal program was easy and direct, enabling families anywhere in our state to simply go to their local grocery or farmers’ market and obtain food. FOOD. Instead I guess our kids are supposed to thrive on Degenfelder’s ridiculously inflammatory grandstanding.
Sarah is 100% current. Maybe Degenfelder should rely upon the good ‘ol Wyoming way. No trips to the grocery store for her. No solutions, just rhetoric from the Rethugirican GOP. The party of cruelty to good ol’ Wyoming’s children.
There is a day of reckoning, maybe not in this world, but in the hereafter. Each will have to account for their decisions, indecisions and transgressions. There is a special place for those who prey upon the young, weak, infirm and elderly; and who take or keep from others what is not theirs. Those who lie, bear false witness and spread misinformation. There is a good reason why Hell is always portrayed by the color red.
My thought was well. Choosing to use the word “weaponize” casts her as a posturing ideologue. It breaks my heart to see the head of Wyoming schools use such language.
It’s just disgusting that our state’s so called leaders continue to stand between citizens and OUR federal government by denying basic human supports like Medicaid and now this food program. Trigger words like welfare and weaponization are all they need to spit out before putting their heads back in the sand. Time to put up billboards warning people to stay away from Wyoming as it’s a backwards thinking, people hating state where it’s easier to get a gun than a good meal.
The billboards should point at the legislature. Then we should ask why those fools and haters are being elected as representing all of us. Do not waste Wyomingite votes on these despicable people. They had a chance to prove they actually are human, but they are actually proud of depriving children and rewarding rich ranchers. Throw the bums out.