Rate increase will bring in $8 million per year to feed Hawaiʻi’s keiki

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.

Equipped with the report’s findings, Hawaiʻi’s congressional delegation took swift action on behalf of Hawaiʻi’s schools. In response to the “Feeding Our Keiki” report, they jointly called upon the USDA to cover the “full, accurate cost of school meals” in the state and then passed a provision in the federal government funding bill that directed USDA to make the increase.

In December 2022 President Joe Biden signed the funding bill into law, which—for the first time in more than 40 years—provided funding to increase the reimbursement rates for Hawaiʻi and other outlying areas beyond regular inflation adjustments. As a result, starting in July 2023, Hawaiʻi’s reimbursement rates will rise from the current 17 percent to 30 percent over the continental U.S. rates.

“We have been trying to get this increase for over a decade,” said Daniela Spoto, director of anti-hunger initiatives at Hawaiʻi Appleseed in a news release. “Hawaiʻi’s reimbursement rate was far too low to be able to operate these programs effectively, and it has been negatively affecting our ability to serve quality meals to children. We are incredibly excited for what this means for improving access to and quality of Hawaiʻi’s school meals.”