FOOD RESEARCH & ACTION CENTER INC
The premier anti-hunger group in Washington
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, too many households were struggling with hunger, poverty, and their associated poor outcomes for health, education, and achievement. In 2019 (the most recent official data available), both the food insecurity rate and the poverty rate were 10.5 percent. There were 10.5 million children living in poverty, and 10.7 million children living in food-insecure homes. Substantial disparities in poverty, food insecurity, and their associated health outcomes persisted among communities of color and women, as well as children. COVID-19 dramatically deepened the hunger and poverty crisis. Between 26–29 million U.S. adults reported that members of their households sometimes or often did not have enough to eat during the first few months of the pandemic. Black and Latinx households, women, and children have been particularly hit hard during the pandemic.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
SNAP
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) is the nation’s most important direct defense against hunger. SNAP serves tens of millions of people — children, parents, working families, older adults, people with disabilities, and more.
Research demonstrates the effectiveness of SNAP in alleviating poverty; reducing food insecurity; improving health, nutrition, and well-being; and reducing health care costs. Each $1 in SNAP benefits during economic downturns generates between $1.50 and $1.80 in economic activity, making it one of the nation’s most effective countercyclical tools.
SNAP’s structure is fundamentally sound, but key improvements are needed to strengthen its impact. Working at the national, state, and local levels, FRAC engages in advocacy, research, communications, and partnerships to ensure access to SNAP is maximized, eligibility is expanded, participation meets need, and benefit levels are adequate for good nutrition and health.
School-Aged Programs
The National School Lunch Program — the nation’s second largest food and nutrition assistance program behind SNAP — makes it possible for all school children in the U.S. to receive a nutritious lunch every school day. The vast majority of schools — approximately 95 percent — participate in the program, providing meals to more than 30 million children on an average day.
The School Breakfast Program provides millions of children a nutritious morning meal each school day. School breakfast is a critical support for struggling families trying to stretch limited resources and provides children a significant portion of the nutrition they need to learn and be healthy.
The Afterschool Nutrition Programs allows schools, local government agencies, and private nonprofits to serve a meal and a snack to children after school, on weekends, and during school holidays.
When school lets out for summer, millions of low-income children lose access to the school breakfasts, lunches and afterschool snacks and meals they receive during the regular school year. The Summer Nutrition Programs help fill this gap by providing free meals and snacks to children who might otherwise go hungry.
Created in response to COVID-19, Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) provides nutritional resources to families who have lost access to free or reduced-price school meals due to school closures. Families will receive money on a new or existing EBT card to help fill the school meals gap.
FRAC is the leading advocacy group working to ensure that school meals, out-of-school time meals, and Pandemic EBT have the most profound impact on childhood hunger and poverty, health, development, and learning. Working at the national, state, and local levels, FRAC engages in advocacy, research, communications, and partnerships to ensure access to the school-aged child nutrition programs is maximized, eligibility is expanded, participation meets need, and nutrition standards support good nutrition and health.
Early Childhood Programs
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides low-income nutritionally at-risk pregnant women, postpartum mothers, infants, and children up to 5 years old with nutritious foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and referrals to health care. Research shows that WIC improves participants’ health and well-being, dietary intake, and birth and health outcomes; protects against obesity; and supports learning and development. WIC benefits are cost-effective, generating major savings in federal, state, local, and private health care, as well as special education costs. Studies demonstrate that WIC improves the food and economic security of participants by reducing food insecurity, helping to alleviate poverty, and supporting economic stability.
The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) helps provide nutritious meals and snacks for eligible children and elderly or disabled adults who are enrolled at participating child care centers, family child care homes, afterschool programs, Head Start programs, adult care centers, and homeless shelters. CACFP ensures that children start good nutrition habits early in life, grow healthy and strong, and are prepared for school by being ready to learn. The program, which normally distributes $3.4 billion/year in meal reimbursements, plays a vital role in improving the quality of child care and making it more affordable for many families with low incomes.
Working at the national, state, and local levels, FRAC engages in advocacy, research, communications, and partnerships to ensure access to the early childhood programs is maximized, eligibility is expanded, participation meets need, and nutrition standards support good nutrition and health.
Where we work
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of requests for advocate products or information, including downloads or page views of online material
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
School-Aged Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Number of page views of FRAC's Pandemic EBT webpage alone in a year.
Number of list subscribers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of research or policy analysis products developed, e.g., reports, briefs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Number of policy reports, issue briefs, infographics, and blogs produced in a year.
Number of audience members willing to take action on behalf of a specific issue
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The FRAC Action Network allows advocates to contact their members of Congress directly to urge them to support and pass urgently needed legislation. This is the number of emails sent to Congress.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
1. Strengthen the federal nutrition programs to ensure they provide sufficient and dignified access to nutrition to individuals and families with low-incomes in the U.S.
2. Guarantee that federal nutrition program implementation at the federal, state, and local levels maximizes available benefits.
3. Support policies and programs that reduce poverty and other root causes of hunger.
4. Reduce the racial hunger gap by embedding equity in the Federal Nutrition Assistance Programs.
5. Build a national commitment in support of just and effective anti-hunger policies.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
FRAC engages in a broad range of strategies at the national, state, and local levels to strengthen and improve participation and benefits in the federal nutrition programs, including: policy analysis; research; advocacy; lobbying; outreach; dissemination of best practices and other materials; annual conferences, webinars, and other training opportunities; intensive technical assistance to state and local groups and public and private non-profit service providers; public education; messaging; work with media and digital media ; coalition building; regranted funding; and similar work. As a key part of this work, FRAC informs, mobilizes, and empowers a network of national, state, and local organizations and policymakers.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
For many years FRAC has been the epicenter of thought leadership, technical assistance, training, information dissemination, policy analysis, research, and coalition-building involving the federal nutrition programs. FRAC’s position in the anti-poverty and anti-hunger sphere is unique in many respects. Focusing on public programs, we integrate national, state, and local anti-hunger efforts into a comprehensive strategy and work in a bipartisan manner to shore up support for program expansion and improvements.
FRAC staff have decades of experience working on these efforts and are acknowledged experts and leaders on the workings of the federal nutrition programs. FRAC senior staff bring to bear their deep knowledge and wealth of experience to the leadership roles they serve in numerous leading coalitions and collaborations, including the Breakfast for Learning Education Alliance, the Child Nutrition Forum, the Coalition on Human Needs, the eGovernment Payments Council, the Hunger Vital Sign Community of Practice, the National CACFP Forum, the National Academy of Medicine Roundtable on Obesity Solutions, and the Protecting Immigrant Families Campaign
FRAC has worked to expand access to, participation in, and benefits in the full range of nutrition programs, and to protect and improve nutrition quality in the programs as the means to address the complex set of problems of hunger, poverty, and poor health. This approach by FRAC has come to define the field of work.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Hunger in this country, especially during the pandemic, would be far worse if not for the federal nutrition programs. In 2021, FRAC scored several key wins by advancing bold and equitable policy solutions that strengthen the federal nutrition programs, which are proven to reduce hunger, improve health, and support economic recovery.
1. Advocated for Increased SNAP Benefits.
2. Raised Our Hands for Healthy School Meals for All
3. Advanced Legislation to Mitigate the Alarming Spikes in Hunger
4. The FRAC Action Network Connected Advocates and Policymakers
5. Made Strides in Centering Our Work in Racial Equity
6. Fought Fear with Facts Once the Public Charge Rule was Blocked
7. Highlighted the Link between Hunger, Poverty, and Equity During the Pandemic
8. Served as a Go-To Resource During Disasters
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Individuals and families experiencing hunger and poverty
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person),
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
When engaging people with lived expertise of hunger and poverty, we compensate individuals at the same level as we would any other expert we engage.
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our community partners,
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
FOOD RESEARCH & ACTION CENTER INC
Board of directorsas of 01/21/2022
Ms. Judith Whittlesey
Susan Davis International
Term: 2021 - 2024
Mayra Alvarez
The Children's Partnership
Dave Carlin
International Dairy Foods Association
Molly Fogarty
Nestle Corporate Affairs
John Gibson
Motion Picture Association
Dan Glickman
The Aspen Institute
Matthew Melmed
Zero To Three
Ronald Pollack
Luis Guardia
Food Research & Action Center
Eric Rodriguez
UnidosUS
Elizabeth (Beth) Johnson
Food Directions LLC
Kellie Adesina
Bayer U.S. - Crop Science
Sherry Brennan
Whip Media Group
Jeff Davidoff
The Idea Monkeys
Kofi Essel, MD, MPH, FAAP
Children's National Hospital
Diane Schanzenbach
Northwestern University
Judith Whittlesey
Susan Davis International
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/21/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.