Food Access

St. Louis college students turn to campus food pantries amid end of SNAP benefits and rising costs.

Belleville joins Collinsville and other Metro East school districts who have embraced the Community Eligibility Provision since it was first implemented in Illinois during the 2011-12 academic year.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is a flashpoint in Congress yet again as members work to renew the farm bill. And the debate comes in the midst of rising food insecurity across the U.S.

The $20 million will support existing grocers and encourage new stores in underserved rural and urban areas — including Venice, the small Metro East town where the bill was signed and which sits entirely in a food desert.

The Collinsville school district will now offer all of its students free breakfast and lunch through a federal program for high-need school districts.

The state said this week it will not participate in a federal program that would provide $120 in benefits to each eligible child, citing administrative hurdles. The decision sparked anger from Missouri parents, who say that officials "basically just robbed us."

The food co-op aimed to provide food insecure residents with healthy products, but low business and dwindling grant money forced it to close.

A free fresh produce program is returning to select St. Louis County Libraries this week. The St. Louis County Library’s Florissant Valley, Lewis and Clark, and Weber Road branches are offering 50 boxes of fresh produce every Thursday.

Congress expanded work requirements for food assistance during the debt ceiling negotiations, a move that would normally happen in the Farm Bill. Shortly before that, the state of Kansas made similar changes.

The project is a collaboration among multiple local organizations and will include research that is connected to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.