The U.S. Department of Agriculture this week announced that Hawaiʻi’s reimbursement rates for school lunch and other federal child nutrition programs will be increased by 13 percent.

These increased rates are projected to bring an additional $8 million a year to Hawaiʻi to support healthy meals for children. Hawaiʻi schools, child care, afterschool, and summer programs provide meals and snacks to more than 100,000 children, which are reimbursed by the federal government at a per-meal rate, set by the USDA.

This rate increase for Hawaiʻi is attributed to the culmination of years of work by local anti-hunger organizations and child advocacy groups. Hawaiʻi Appleseed, Hawaʻi Children’s Action Network, Ulupono Initiative, and the Hawaiʻi Afterschool Alliance teamed together for a major push in May 2022, with the release of the “Feed Our Keiki” report, which showed that the federal reimbursement rates didn’t come close to matching the current cost of providing school meals in Hawaiʻi.