|
|
Resources Available to Fight Childhood Hunger
|
 Fortunately,
we can protect Ohio's children from suffering from hunger. There are federal programs in place that if strengthened
and fully deployed could virtually end childhood hunger in Ohio and the nation. Sadly, these programs are not fully
utilized in Ohio, which results in many children being left behind to struggle with the devastating consequences
of hunger. While emergency food relief is available through food pantries and emergency kitchens, there are programsand
resources offered that help promote self-sufficiency including providing food-related economic support, nutritious
meal and snack options, and resource and nutrition education. These programs provide stability to food insecure
families in the United States, and many times they are the only safety net protecting Americans from falling further
into poverty.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides food nutrition resources that target several different populations
from children to adults andschools to adult day care centers. A deeper understanding of the federal programs and
how they serve to provide relief is integral to havinga full picture of hunger in the United States and here in
Ohio.
- National School Lunch Program (NSLP): The NSLP is a federally reimbursed program
that provides nutritionally balanced free and reduced-priced lunches. In Ohio, 74% of eligible students participate
in the program.
- School Breakfast Program (SBP): Similar to NSLP, the School Breakfast Program
provides low-income children with a nutritious meal to start their day; ensuring that their learning is not impaired.
In Ohio, 31% of eligible students participate in the program.
- Summer Food Service Program (SFSP): The Summer Food Service Program provides
free, nutritious meals and snacks throughout the summer months. Although school is out for the summer, children
still need nutritious meals to live healthy, productive lives. In Ohio, 10% of eligible students participate in
the program.
- Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP): CACFP improves the quality of child
day care by reimbursing child care centers for meals and snacks. The program also serves homeless, runaway and
migrant youth.
- Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC): Serves
as a safety net for low-income women and their children by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information
on healthy eating and referrals to health care.
- Food Stamp Program (FSP): This vital program serves as a basic safety net
for millions of Americans by providing monthly benefits to eligible low-income families which can be used to purchase
food.
 Millions of Americans
rely on the USDA's food and nutrition safety net to assist them in meeting daily nutritional needs. These programs
are vital for the working poor and help keep people from falling further into poverty. Further, these programs
support our most vulnerable population -- our children.
With the tremendous value these programs offer, the question remains why they continue to be severely underutilized
in Ohio. Why are we letting children needlessly go hungry when the resources are available? To demonstrate the
severe underutilization, only 31% of Ohio's eligible children receive school breakfast and a mere 10% receive summer
meals. The federal food safety net is woefully underutilized in Ohio 320 and therefore our most vulnerable population
-- children, suffer.
Expanded programs would benefit all Ohioans. Increased participation means increased purchasing at the local
level which can infuse money into the local economy. For example, in Ohio for every 100 children receiving lunch,
only 40.5 also received breakfast. According to the Food Research and Action Center, if the national benchmark
of 60 students received breakfast for every 100 that received lunch, Ohio would have received an additional $20,501,291
federal funds. What community in Ohio can afford to bypass this money?
Through implementation of the following policy recommendations, we can go a long way toward providing Ohio's
one in six food insecure children with nutritious meals so that they can lead healthy, productive lives and flourish
in today's society.
|
