VOA慢速英語：美國家庭擔心學校免費午餐的終結(jié)

VOA慢速英語：美國家庭擔心學校免費午餐的終結(jié)

As gas and food prices rise in the United States, some families are worried about having to pay for something else in the fall: lunch for their children at school.
隨著美國汽油和食品價格的上漲，一些家庭擔心，到秋季他們要不得不為一樣東西付費：孩子在學校吃的午餐。
 
For at least the last two school years, many parents did not have to worry about preparing or buying their school-aged children lunch.
至少在過去的兩個學年里，許多家長不必擔心為學齡兒童準備或購買午餐。
 
That is because emergency government funding during the early part of the coronavirus pandemic included food aid for children.
因為在疫情初期，政府的緊急資金包括對兒童的食物援助。
 
The aid covered lunch for children during the school year and during the summer for many families.
這項援助為兒童提供了上學期間的午餐，也為許多家庭提供了夏季的午餐。
 
But the free lunch funding is set to end in several states before the start of the next school year.
但在下一學年開始之前，一些州的免費午餐基金將會結(jié)束。
 
Before the pandemic, Kate Murphy of Vermont and her family did not have enough money to pay for their four children to buy lunch at school.
在疫情爆發(fā)之前，佛蒙特州的凱特·墨菲和她的家人沒有足夠的錢支付四個孩子在學校買午餐的費用。
 
Instead, they purchased lunch foods in large amounts and sent their children to school with food each morning.
為此，他們購買了大量午餐食品，每天早上讓孩子帶著食物上學。
 
But when the pandemic hit, the U.S. government made lunch money available to most schools.
疫情爆發(fā)后，美國政府向大多數(shù)學校提供了午餐補助。
 
The support came at a critical time for the Murphy family, because Kate’s husband had lost his job.
此時，恰逢墨菲一家的危機時刻，因為凱特的丈夫失業(yè)了。
 
Because of the free lunch program, the Murphys had one less financial concern.
免費午餐計劃，讓墨菲一家少了一項財務方面的擔憂。
 
But now the family may have to worry about lunch again.
但現(xiàn)在，這家人可能又要擔心午餐的問題了。
 
Murphy said her family earns a bit too much money to qualify for free lunches based on the old program's income rules.
墨菲說，根據(jù)原來午餐補助的規(guī)定，她的家庭收入偏高，不符合享受免費午餐的條件。
 
Experts say the end of the school lunch aid and other programs that helped families save money means more will have to get help from food banks.
專家表示，學校午餐援助和其他家庭資助計劃的結(jié)束，意味著更多的人將不得不求助于食品銀行。
 
Food banks provide meals and food for no cost to families and individuals in need.
食品銀行為貧困的家庭和個人免費提供食物。
 
Vince Hall is a government relations officer for Feeding America, a group of food banks across the U.S.
文斯·霍爾是“供養(yǎng)美國”(協(xié)調(diào)美國各地食品銀行的組織)的政府關(guān)系官員。
 
He said many families are now “facing a very difficult reality of having to choose between feeding their kids or filling up their gas tanks or purchasing medicine.”
他說，許多家庭現(xiàn)在“面臨著一個非常艱難的現(xiàn)實，即必須在喂養(yǎng)孩子、加滿油箱或購買藥品之間做出選擇。
”
The U.S. Agriculture Department oversees the school meal program.
美國農(nóng)業(yè)部負責監(jiān)督學校午餐計劃。
 
Cindy Long is an administrator for the department’s Food and Nutrition Service.
辛迪·朗是該部門食品和營養(yǎng)服務部的管理員。
 
She said that, during the pandemic, the number of children getting free meals increased from 20 million to 30 million.
她說，在疫情期間，獲得免費午餐的兒童數(shù)量從2000萬增加到3000萬。
 
A summer meal program in 2020 gave out 1.3 billion meals and snacks.
2020年的一項夏季午餐計劃共計發(fā)放了13億份午餐和快餐。
 
The total cost was $4.1 billion.
總成本為41億美元。
 
That was eight times greater than program costs from a year earlier.
比上一年的計劃成本高出8倍。
 
President Joe Biden recently signed a bill that should keep summer meal programs running in the same way they did during the first two summers of the pandemic.
美國總統(tǒng)喬·拜登最近簽署了一項法案，該法案要求夏季午餐計劃應該以疫情前兩年的運行方式繼續(xù)運行。
 
Some states are using their own money to make the free meals permanent.
為了讓免費午餐持續(xù)存在，部分州正在用自己的錢。
 
California and Maine did that last year.
加利福尼亞州和緬因州去年就這樣做了。
 
Massachusetts and Colorado are working on state proposals that would provide food aid for at least one more school year.
馬薩諸塞州和科羅拉多州正在研究至少再提供一學年食品援助的州提案。
 
Vermont, where the Murphy family lives, said it would use extra money in the education budget to fund food aid for the upcoming year.
墨菲一家所在的佛蒙特州表示，將使用教育預算中的額外資金為來年的食品援助提供資金。
 
“Our kids have so much to worry about these days, and food shouldn’t be one of them,” Kate Murphy said.
凱特·墨菲說：“如今，孩子們要擔心的事情太多了，食物不應該是其中之一。”
 
On a recent day at the Albert D. Lawton school in Vermont, students ate pizza and salad with their friends.
最近一天，在佛蒙特州的阿爾伯特·勞頓學校，學生們和他們的朋友們一起吃披薩和沙拉。
 
One student, Ethan Pringle, said it is hard to learn when you feel hungry.
一位名叫伊森·普林格爾的學生說，當你感到饑餓時，很難集中精力學習。
 
“Not everybody has the same situation at home,” he said.
他說：“并不是每個人的家里都有同樣的情況”。
 
“So I think free lunch, it makes it easier for everybody.”
“所以我認為免費午餐會讓大家都更輕松。”
 
I’m Dan Friedell.
丹·弗里德爾報道。