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As gas and food prices rise in the United States, some families are worried about having to pay for something else in the fall:隨著美國(guó)汽油和食品價(jià)格的上漲，一些家庭擔(dān)心在秋季必須支付其他費(fèi)用：lunch for their children at school.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(guò)去的兩個(gè)學(xué)年里，許多家長(zhǎng)不必?fù)?dān)心為學(xué)齡兒童準(zhǔn)備或購(gòu)買午餐。That is because emergency government funding during the early part of the coronavirus pandemic included food aid for children.這是因?yàn)樵诠跔畈《敬罅餍性缙?，政府的緊急資金包括對(duì)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(xiàng)援助包括在學(xué)年期間為兒童提供午餐，以及在夏季期間為許多家庭提供午餐。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(xué)年開(kāi)始之前，幾個(gè)州的免費(fèi)午餐資金將會(huì)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(méi)有足夠的錢支付四個(gè)孩子在學(xué)校買午餐的費(fèi)用。Instead, they purchased lunch foods in large amounts and sent their children to school with food each morning.相反，他們購(gòu)買了大量的午餐食品，每天早上帶著食物送孩子們上學(xué)。But when the pandemic hit, the U.S. government made lunch money available to most schools.但當(dāng)疫情襲來(lái)時(shí)，美國(guó)政府為大多數(shù)學(xué)校提供了午餐資金。The support came at a critical time for the Murphy family, because Kate's husband had lost his job.這些支持的到來(lái)正好幫助墨菲一家解了燃眉之急，因?yàn)閯P特的丈夫失業(yè)了。Because of the free lunch program, the Murphys had one less financial concern.由于免費(fèi)午餐計(jì)劃，墨菲夫婦少了一項(xiàng)財(cái)務(wù)方面的擔(dān)憂。But now the family may have to worry about lunch again.但現(xiàn)在，這家人可能又要擔(dān)心午餐的問(wèn)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(shuō)，根據(jù)舊計(jì)劃的收入規(guī)定，她的家人掙的錢有點(diǎn)多，沒(méi)有資格享受免費(fèi)午餐。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.專家說(shuō)，學(xué)校午餐援助和其他幫助家庭省錢的計(jì)劃的結(jié)束意味著更多的人將不得不從食品銀行獲得幫助。Food banks provide meals and food for no cost to families and individuals in need.食品銀行向有需要的家庭和個(gè)人免費(fèi)提供膳食和食物。Vince Hall is a government relations officer for Feeding America, a group of food banks across the U.S.文斯·霍爾是一名政府關(guān)系官員，負(fù)責(zé)為美國(guó)各地的食品銀行提供食物。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(shuō)，許多家庭現(xiàn)在“面臨著一個(gè)非常艱難的現(xiàn)實(shí)——必須在喂飽孩子、加滿汽油或購(gòu)買藥品之間做出選擇。”The U.S. Agriculture Department oversees the school meal program.美國(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)部負(fù)責(zé)監(jiān)督學(xué)校的膳食計(jì)劃。Cindy Long is an administrator for the department's Food and Nutrition Service.辛迪·朗是衛(wèi)生部食品和營(yíng)養(yǎng)服務(wù)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(shuō)，在大流行期間，獲得免費(fèi)食物的兒童數(shù)量從2000萬(wàn)增加到3000萬(wàn)。A summer meal program in 2020 gave out 1.3 billion meals and snacks.2020年的一項(xiàng)夏餐計(jì)劃發(fā)放了13億份餐食和零食。The total cost was $4.1 billion.That was eight times greater than program costs from a year earlier.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(guó)總統(tǒng)喬·拜登最近簽署了一項(xiàng)法案：應(yīng)該讓夏季用餐計(jì)劃像大流行的前兩個(gè)夏天一樣繼續(xù)運(yùn)行。Some states are using their own money to make the free meals permanent.California and Maine did that last year.加利福尼亞州和緬因州去年做到了這一點(diǎn)。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州提案，該提案將提供至少一個(gè)學(xué)年的食物援助。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(yù)算中的額外資金，為來(lái)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(shuō)：“如今，我們的孩子要擔(dān)心的事情太多了，食物不應(yīng)該是其中之一?！?/span>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·D·勞頓學(xué)校，學(xué)生們和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(xué)生說(shuō)，當(dāng)你感到饑餓時(shí)，很難集中注意力學(xué)習(xí)。'Not everybody has the same situation at home,' he said.“并不是每個(gè)人都生活無(wú)憂，”他說(shuō)。'So I think free lunch, it makes it easier for everybody.'“所以我認(rèn)為免費(fèi)午餐會(huì)讓所有人都更輕松?！?/span>
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