Every summer, the federal government provides meals to millions of American children living in poverty. In 2016, the Department of Agriculture fed 179 million meals to nearly 4 million children who rely on free or reduced meals during the school year. In the Mississippi Delta, the program is a lifeline for many families, and it could become even more important in the coming years.
The Trump administration has proposed cutting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, by $191 billion. More than half of the 67,000 Delta families on food stamps have children.