Children and Food Insecurity

Posted on June 7, 2012 by townsend

• End of school means days of hunger for some local kids, By James Fuller, June 6, 2012, Daily Herald: “‘No more pencils, no more books’ is part of the familiar school’s-out-for-summer chant. But when classrooms close for the summer, so do school cafeterias and their free and reduced lunch and breakfast programs. For thousands of area children, that means a harsh summer lesson about hunger and improper nutrition. A study by Feeding America, a hunger relief charity, shows there are more than 400,000 children in Cook and the collar counties who spend at least some time hungry or not receiving proper nutrition. One in five children in the 13 northern Illinois counties face hunger on a regular basis. Northern Illinois Food Bank officials say that problem becomes more acute in the summer months when school food is not a guaranteed part of a child’s day…”
• Nearly one in five Northland children classified ‘food insecure’, By John Lundy, June 5, 2012, Duluth News Tribune: “One out of every five Douglas County children doesn’t get enough food to support an active, healthy lifestyle, a report released on Monday said. Nationwide, one of every four children is ‘food insecure’ in more than 1,000 counties, said the study by Feeding America, a nonprofit focused on domestic hunger relief. Although the numbers aren’t that dire in the Northland, the study still shows that 18.6 percent of children in Northeastern Minnesota and Northwestern Wisconsin are food insecure, according to a news release on Tuesday from Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank. That includes 20.6 percent in Douglas County and 18.2 percent – 6,990 children – in St. Louis County…”
• 1 in 4 children at hunger risk, report says, By Gary Scharrer and Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, June 5, 2012, San Antonio Express-News: “More than one in four Texas children, or 27.1 percent, were at risk of going hungry in 2010, according to the report released Monday by Feeding America. More than 118,000 Bexar County children, 26.8 percent, live in food insecure households, the report found. Texas lawmakers must involve entire communities to end childhood hunger, said Bee Moorhead of the interfaith group Texas Impact…”