The last big ol’ update had links. I’ll add links to this because food insecurity TICKS ME OFF. It shouldn’t be a thing. We’re fighting food insecurity at my elementary school.
All of my coworkers and all of my now-retired relatives have paid for classroom snacks/pantries With Their Own Money.
Food insecurity is a big issue in the United States. When our kids aren’t eating enough they are tired, can’t focus, and are irritable. It’s difficult to get work done when you’re feeling the effects of hunger.
I’ll post excerpts of some articles below.
Feeding the need: Expanding school lunch programs
“Schools have always been the front line in the battle against childhood hunger. It started with the National School Lunch Act, signed by President Truman in 1946, which gave federal money to states to fund school lunches.
Today more than 30 million kids benefit. And yet, by some estimates at least one in six still doesn’t know where the next meal is coming from.
“School lunch is no longer this Brady Bunch convenience; it is a soup kitchen,” said Jennifer Ramo, of the New Mexico anti-poverty group Appleseed.
“It is a place where kids who haven’t eaten at night or haven’t eaten that weekend, go to get basic nutrition so they can function. I think we just have no idea how big the problem is and how many children are suffering. And the best thing to do is just must make sure they’re fed.”
Growing Hunger in Schools is a Growing Problem (2012)
“What do parents tell their kids on the first day of school – stay out of trouble, do your homework, and listen to your teachers,” Nelson said.
“That’s our message today: listen to your teachers. What are they telling us? Hunger needs to be a national priority.”
One in five children struggle with hunger nationwide and six out of ten teachers report students regularly coming to school hungry. According to 80 percent of those teachers, the problem is only getting worse.
Educators realize the toll hunger takes on students. Nine in ten teachers consider breakfast to be “extremely important” to academic achievement. Fifty-three percent of teachers spend an average $26 of their own money each month providing snacks for their students.”
Reading, writing and hunger: More than 13 million kids in this country go to school hungry
“There is tremendous stigma of children going into a cafeteria before the bell,” said McAuliffe, “whereas with the alternative breakfast model, it normalizes it, creates community in the classroom around a meal, and starts the day off strong.”
Underscoring the crucial impact a healthy breakfast can have, a 2013 study done by Deloitte for No Kid Hungry found that kids who have regular access to breakfast score 17.5 percent higher on standardized math tests
.Breakfast and lunch programs in schools are making great strides in attacking childhood hunger, but a huge gap remains. According to No Kid Hungry, a quarter of all low-income parents worry their kids don’t have enough to eat between school lunch and breakfast the next day; and three out of four public school teachers say students regularly come to school hungry.
Increasingly, advocates are focusing on programs that ensure kids have enough to eat when they are not in school, and after school and summer meal programs are on the rise.”
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