Editorial: Florida must help feed needy kids

It would be disappointing if Florida bureaucrats are too callous to accept federal money to feed poor kids — for the second time.

That’s what children’s advocates all over the state are saying as a decision looms to accept millions from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to feed some of the neediest kids in our state.

Last year, the state rejected the chance for $259 million through the SUN Bucks program run by the Department of Agriculture. We were one of 12 states to turn down the money, according to a story in the Orlando Sentinel.

In that same story, Mallory McManus, spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families, which has oversight of the state’s free lunch programs in schools, said the state does not need the federal money.

She said the state does not want to deal with the “strings attached” to the SUN Bucks money.

Those strings include putting up $12 million to share the cost of running the program — a small fraction of the dividends.

We shouldn’t be surprised. News accounts in the Orlando newspaper and others noted Florida almost passed up $800 million in 2021 during the height of the COVID pandemic to help feed 2.2 million children. An uproar by nonprofits and lawmakers persuaded the state to reconsider and accept the cash.

The latest controversy swirls around a program that the state must agree to embrace by Aug. 15 — or lose out again.

According to the Sentinel story, 185 groups that are seeking to end hunger in the state sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, urging him to push for the money.

One in five children in Florida are dealing with hunger because their families are unable to buy enough food during this time of high inflation. Children in those families are accustomed to getting at least one free meal a day in school. During summer months, that meal is missing.

Less than 10% of the 672,324 elementary school children in Florida who qualify for free or reduced lunches in school are able to receive a summer lunch, according to the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit working to end poverty-related hunger, the Sentinel said.

The program that Florida turned down would have given $40 per month for each child in the family or $120 for the entire summer.

While there are some summer programs to feed children who are missing their free school lunches, this money enables parents to provide nourishment and purchase food that the children may otherwise not be fed.

And, the fact money is given to the families to spend as needed means children do not have to go to a location each day to get a free meal.

Florida is earning a reputation as a state that turns its back on its neediest people — as evidenced by the stubborn refusal for years now to not sign on for Medicaid funding that is available.

There is no excuse in our book to continue to turn our back on money for healthcare or food for needy children just to make a political statement.

There is no requirement to accept this federal money that should be a burden to Florida or an embarrassment to its Republican leadership.

Don’t miss the deadline. Take the money.