Summary Of School's Out For The Summer By Anna Quindlen

Anna Quindlen’s essay “School’s Out for Summer,” is about some families that cannot afford food throughout the summer. Her essay is describing how America should be able to feed our people. She tells about food shortages and why people can’t afford it sometimes. “Food banks reported that most of their clients are minimum wage workers that who can’t afford enough to eat on their salaries”.(paragraph 8 second line) She is using evidence from a company explaining that most workers who lives on minimum wage aren’t able to afford enough food because they only make enough to pay for rent most of the time.

In Anna Quindlen’s essay, “Schools Out For Summer”, she writes about the problems of childhood hunger and how to solve it here in America. During the summer, school ends and kids don’t get lunch everyday as if they would while it was in session. The author uses many words and ideas to convey the point she is making in the writing to persuade the reader.

“Schools Out for the Summer.”, a short essay by Anna Quindlen, identifies a growing problem in America. Quindlen has presented the problem that when school is not in session an abundance of families aren’t able to provide their children with adequate meals and she uses plenty of examples and solutions to effectively persuade readers.

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many of our country's most successful efforts to halt the spread of childhood hunger and starvation have recently been withdrawn.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.

The one thing that we all need is Food. In the U.S. and all over the world there are many people who lack the funds to buy food and millions of starving children. Anna states in her essay that most kids have trouble getting food when school is out because that is the primary source that provides breakfast and lunch. “Summer is really ground zero in the battle to keep kids fed.” (pg 224)

“But that sort of summer has given way to something more difficult, even darker, that makes you wonder whether year-round school is not a notion whose time has come.” Most students are very eager towards the end the school year to be free from the “prison” that holds them from August until May. Students want to be relieved from all of the built up stress from throughout the year and they want to be able to do what they want without having to worry if their homework is done or if they are prepared for the test the following day. However, many children and their families rely on school for one very overlooked reason that is addressed in Anna Quindlen’s essay, “School’s Out for Summer.” In it, Quindlen discusses a problem that many don’t even realize exists: a lack of ability to feed children at home. Many Americans rely on the school to feed their children because the parents can not. This is a problem that many people do not realize exists, and it is a problem that can be fixed.

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

Fortunately there are programs that assist families in crisis and can help to feed the children of the United States; however the number of hungry children is growing. Child hunger in the United States has been described as an increasingly complex problem and has been called the “silent epidemic.” (Goldstein, 2009)

In LAUSD, students throw away over $100,000 in food every day. That adds up to a loss of around $18,000,000 annually, which is 10% of their food, wasted (Watanabe). Our nation's schools are losing billions of dollars annually, and our weak economy is paying for school meals that many students refuse to eat, despite the efforts of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.The government is making attempts to reduce childhood obesity by regulating school meals, PE, and health education, but it has all been to no avail. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act is actually harming both the kids and their schools because the meals are more expensive, the yen up unappetizing, and many kids are left with empty bellies.

Nationwide students waist over 70% of fruits and vegetables,while others are sitting around without food at all in other places(Public brief). Some students only get the 2 meals they are provided with at school ,but they often are not provided with enough to eat. Its import for low income and less fortunate families to be provided enough time to eat to make sure they are receiving there energy and daily nutrients(Godoy& Allison). Increasing the school lunch time will also save the schools a great amount of money(Public brief). School lunch food wasted to cost $1.2 billion dollars each year,which is enough for a person to buy a new car everyday of there life(Public brief). A simple increase in time could save schools a bunch of money needed to improve the school building and faculty. Many cafeteria staff and teachers have reported complaints about how students aren't eating all their food and they have to throw it away(EHHI). Most of the time in high schools foods are sold à la carte instead of a full meal to avoid having to throw away or make more food(EHHI). As a result of the food waste cafeterias started using foods with more fats and less nutritious items to get students to eat( EHHI). Cafeteria are selling french fries and not the healthy food to make there money because students aren't eating enough of the

A. How many of you are worried about where your next meal will come from? Are you unsure of how you’re going to purchase next week’s groceries or what you will be feeding your children for dinner tonight? This probably isn’t something most of you think about from day to day. When you are hungry, you eat. It’s easy for you to grab a sandwich, order a pizza, or run through the drive thru when you are on the go. However, there are many families, not just in other countries, but here in the United States as well, that are going hungry every day. According to kidshealth.org, a child dies from malnutrition and related causes every 6 seconds.

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).

Students learn and do their best when they are hungry, and uncomfortable! That makes perfect sense right? If you’re like most Americans, this may be one of the most ridiculous statements you have ever heard. I know I have never done anything better hungry. Many students sit through their lunch time at school because they have no food to eat because they don’t have the money to afford it, or they are not able to bring food from home for various reasons. This is why many schools have free and reduced lunch programs. But not everybody can apply for these programs; even middle class families in today’s economy sometimes can’t give their child cash every day. Times are tough, and every family is different. These are good programs, but they are

Food insecurity is an issue faced by millions of Americans every day, and the biggest group affected by this are working families with children. Food insecurity is so big that the United States government have now recognized it and provided a definition for it. The United States government has defined food insecurity as a household level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food (USDA.gov). Food banks and anti-hunger advocates agree that some of the causes of food insecurity are stagnant wages, increase in housing costs, unemployment, and inflation of the cost of food. These factors and unemployment have cause food banks to see a change in the groups of people needing assistance. Doug O’Brien,