For low-income kids, meals aplenty this summer, By Jennifer Calfas, June 25, 2015, USA Today: “A chorus of ‘thank yous’ filled the room as each child reached for his or her packaged meal. Breakfast at the Barry Farm Recreation Center was served: A nectarine, a muffin and a carton of milk for each kid. ‘These are things that they probably don’t eat at home,’ said Swandea Johnson-Denson, a recreation specialist who works closely with the kids at the center each day. ‘When they’re with us, we know they’re eating at least twice a day, five days a week.’ With few school lunches easily accessible during the summer season, a number of non-profits across the U.S. are providing more meals for low-income children. The Barry Farm Recreation Center is one of many hosting sites across the country…”
Tag: Food programs
School Food Programs
Schools becoming the ‘last frontier’ for hungry kids, By Marisol Bello, April 5, 2015, USA Today: “America’s schools are no longer just a place for students to learn their ABCs. They are also increasingly where children eat their three squares. The classroom has become a dining room as more children attending public schools live in poverty. More than half of students in public schools — 51% — were in low-income families in 2013, according to a study by the Southern Education Foundation. The number of low-income children in public schools has been persistent and steadily rising over the past several decades. In 1989, 32% of children in public schools lived in poverty, the foundation says…”
School Breakfast Program
How our schools fail poor kids before they even arrive for class, By Roberto A. Ferdman, February 18, 2015, Washington Post: “One of the simplest ways to put poor kids in a position to succeed is to make sure they eat breakfast. Studies have shown that eating the day’s first meal is not only associated with nutritional benefits, but also cognitive ones — especially for children.A 2013 study, for instance, linked breakfast consumption among children to higher IQs later in life. A group of researchers in 1989 found that students who ate breakfast tended to perform better on standardized tests…”