US Offers $1.5 Billion for School Meals During Supply Chain Crunch

Prepared hot meals, available for pickup once a week during the summer for families, in Gurnee, Ill., on June 29, 2021. Christopher Walljasper/Reuters

CHICAGO—The Agriculture Department is providing up to $1.5 billion to help school meal programs weather the supply chain crunch, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Friday.

Procuring large amounts of food has become difficult because of delays in shipments, a lack of certain products, high costs, and labor shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic.