Food Insecurity Good Or Bad For Children

“The agriculture Department estimated in 1999 that twelve million children were hungry or at risk of going hungry.” She proclaimed. The cause of that could be because parents who can’t afford or find service programs to park their vacationing children in front of the television, lock the door, and go to work hoping for

In the United States, there is a substantial number of children that live below the federal poverty line and even more that live below twice the poverty line (Jackson, 2014). According to Jackson (2014), poverty and food insecurity are undeniably related and these children living below the federal poverty line are at risk for varying negative effects, such as delayed cognitive development and medical problems, that hunger can cause. There is a variety of nutritional policies that help these children as well as adults who live in economically disadvantaged and food-insecure households such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) (Jackson, 2014; Marx, Broussard, Hopper, & Worster, 2010). This program

It was difficult to read that countless millions of federal dollars and many of our country's most successful efforts to halt the spread of childhood hunger and starvation have recently been withdrawn. And as a result, this problem of childhood hunger is not getting better but is actually getting worse. The most recent estimates compiled by the USDA in 1999 indicate that 36.2 million Americans live in food-insecure households, which means that their access to adequate and safe food is limited or uncertain. This too is very disturbing information.

Children living in poverty are greatly affected by the many damaging disadvantages that come with growing up poor. Most children for the low-income families are not fed on a daily basis and therefore experience hunger

A Lot of kids depend on school to get fed. Many kids that go to school are happy to get 1 or 2 meals a day because they know at home there is not no food for them and their family don’t know what to do to provide their family with a meal

The United States faces many social problems. One of these problems is child hunger. It has sociological origins and challenges for government and citizens alike.

Food insecurity is defined as “limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.”1 Food insecurity data found that in America, 12.7% of households were food insecure at some point and 5% of households had very low food security in 2015.2 The prevalence of food insecurity in Ohio was greater than the national average in 2015, with 16.1% of households reporting food insecurity.2

Considering the following statistics, it is clear why Hunger Free Colorado’s work is so important: Nearly 1 in 7 Coloradans struggled with hunger in 2013, facing times when there was not enough money to buy food for their families or themselves (Colman-Jenson, Gregory, & Singh, 2013). More than 1 in 5 Colorado households with children (22%) reported food hardship, facing financial challenges to put food on the table (Food Research and Action Center, 2013). More than 1 in 8 Coloradans lived in poverty, including 1 in 6 kids, during 2013 (Bishaw & Fontenot, 2014).

So, why do fifteen million children in America face hunger every day? How does this happen? Many people are on food stamps, and they can be extremely helpful, but it is difficult to feed family with them. Food stamps provide only a dollar per person for each meal, according to the organization, Food is Power. More often than not, unhealthy, processed foods are a lot less expensive than nutritious, organic food, and because of this issue, many people on food stamps reach for less expensive junk food. Unquestionably, healthy foods can be very hard to find and expensive in places like food deserts. Food is Power found that thirty-three percent of Americans live in food deserts. Of course, public transportation helps families reach grocery stores, but it still can be a lengthy trip, and in rural and suburban areas, there can be little or no public transportation at all. These issues make it a struggle for parents to provide healthy food for their

Providing meal cash reimbursements to schools as an entitlement to provide nutritious meals to children. This means that all eligible schools can participate and all children attending those schools can participate. Schools participating in NSLP also receive agricultural commodities (unprocessed or partially processed foods) as a supplement to the per-meal cash reimbursements, in amounts based on the number of lunches they serve. (“National

Food insecurity is one of the leading public health challenges in the United States today, since millions of people (children and adults) are food insecure because of insufficient money income and other socioeconomic and demographic factors. (Seligman, Kushel, & Laraia, 2010)

4. A single bag of food—which provides highly nutritious meals for six children—costs around $1.44 to produce, and 93 percent of all donations to FMSC goes directly toward the food program.

People live in a complex world where things are never as simple as they seem. Officials agree that in order for students to perform well in school, their basic needs have to be met (in conjunction with the ideas of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs). While schools may not be able to provide a safe place to sleep or warm clothing during the winter, they can provide a healthy, nutritious meal. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, the number of children under 18 years of age living below the federal poverty level of $23,550 for a family of four represent 21.1% of the population (“Child Poverty,” n.d.). The National Lunch Act and its subsequent revisions have sought to mitigate the effects of hunger. Unfortunately, there are other circumstances that affect the desired outcomes of serving a balanced meal to students in need.

Putting food on the table may become a difficult task putting the family at risk for hunger (Martin, 2011).

School lunches are often unsung heroes of many modern American households. Frequently overlooked and disregarded because of their stigma, school lunches are a key ingredient that may help make the world a better place. Unknowingly, great numbers of individuals in our communities deal with food insecurities every day of their lives. It baffles me that in an advanced society many people do not have the resources to provide food for themselves or their families. Until it affected me personally, I was unaware nor passionate about the struggles of food insecurity. My passion for solving food insecurity in my local community has led me to gain both experience and leadership through understanding and advocating for those around me.