This summer, children in the Gulf South will miss out on a federal program that provides low-income families with extra cash for groceries while school is out of session. In mid-January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer program, or Summer EBT, which carried many lower-income families through the COVID-19 pandemic will become permanent. The program will give families an extra $120 per eligible child on EBT cards for the summer – averaging out to $40 per month.