A PUSH TO SUPPORT 'DOUBLE UP FOOD BUCKS' IN NEXT ROUND OF AID: There's a growing bipartisan coalition pushing for emergency funding for the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (now GusNIP, formerly known as FINI), which supports initiatives like "Double Up Food Bucks" to give Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants extra benefits to spend on produce at grocery stores and farmers markets. Match funds dry up: The popular program is being stretched during the pandemic because it requires that grantees get their federal funds matched by outside sources, but philanthropy and state coffers are being squeezed right as demand for nutrition assistance is exploding. "Without an emergency increase, GusNIP grantees will be faced with exhausted funding exactly at the time they are most needed in the recovery phase of the pandemic," reads a June letter to House leadership, led by Reps. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) and Rick Crawford (R-Ark.). The letter was signed by nearly 80 members on both sides of the aisle. On tap: A similar coalition is currently being organized in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said the chamber will focus on the next coronavirus package this month, with the goal of finishing before both chambers depart for their lengthy August break. The bench: The ask is backed by the Fair Food Network, which pioneered the Double Up Food Bucks program, as well as the National Grocers Association, the United Fresh Produce Association, the U.S. Apple Association, National Potato, and the Farm Credit Council. UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF KIDS NOT GETTING ENOUGH TO EAT: At the end of June, more than 16 percent of households with children reported that children under the age of 18 in their home were sometimes or often not eating enough due to a lack of resources — a rate that's more than five times higher than it was in 2018, according to a new analysis by the Brookings Institution based on recent weekly Census Bureau survey data. "New data show that an unprecedented number of children in the United States are experiencing food insecurity and did not have sufficient food as of late June," wrote Lauren Bauer, a fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project. The political context: The findings come as Congress is expected to work on another round of coronavirus aid later this month, as your host reports . Democrats have been pushing for a 15 percent increase in SNAP benefits as well as an extension of recent SNAP benefit increases, including Pandemic-EBT. What are we going to do about schools? The findings also place a new level of pressure on policymakers to figure out how to best feed some 30 million schoolchildren as states and localities mull how they can safely operate schools this year. USDA ALLOWS MORE SPECIALTY CROPS TO GET IN ON AID: The Agriculture Department on Thursday said it will now offer aid to producers of more than 40 new specialty crops through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program that Congress authorized. The move comes after many commodity groups lobbied to be included, POLITICO's Ximena Bustillo reports. Applications for CFAP opened on May 26 and USDA expects it will get 1.6 million by the Aug. 28 deadline. As of Monday, nearly $5.4 billion of the money had been distributed. Changing the math: The department is also providing more money to seven currently eligible commodities — apples, blueberries, garlic, potatoes, raspberries, tangerines and taro — for sales losses, and determined that peaches and rhubarb no longer qualify for payment under the sales loss category. USDA is also changing the payment rates for several commodities, from apples to kiwifruit and taro. More to come? USDA expects additional eligible commodities to be announced in the coming weeks. But with more farmers now eligible for aid, the program could run dry even faster and raise the pressure on Congress and the Trump administration to provide more agricultural aid in a future stimulus package. | 
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