Constant Craving

Well, frumps, here we are nearing the end of another November and preparing for the annual Great American Pig-out otherwise known as Thanksgiving. Yep, this is the American holiday devoted to giving thanks that Americans have more and bigger and better everything than the rest of the world – and what better way to express that sentiment than gorging ourselves on more food than any healthy human being should eat in one day. Indeed, there are places in the world where the Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving table would feed a family of eight for a month or two; or where a hungry person could sustain for a week on what goes into the average American trash can while the feast is being prepared.

What’s that you say? That’s why we’re giving thanks? Because we don’t have problems like that in America . . . well, if that’s what you think, you need to open your eyes and just take a closer look around you. For sure, it’s a little more difficult to spot hunger and starvation in the US for a couple of reasons: we don’t have naked emaciated babies with telltale potbellies walking around our towns; and Americans are trained to be self-sufficient, private about their finances and leery of handouts. So it’s not that we don’t have a problem with hunger in our country, it’s just that the hunger is largely invisible here.

I’m afraid that all of that invisibility is in the process of changing, though, because hunger in America is growing geometrically, with the recession, and shows no sign of improving anytime soon. And if you think that hunger isn’t yet affecting your community or your social strata – look again.

Bill Moyer’s Journal recently carried an eye-opening expose of how pervasive the problem of hunger has become in groups that might surprise you. As one man interviewed in the video said:

“For a while I was very cynical and I looked down my nose on a lot of people. But now I’m one of those people I looked down on, so I don’t look down on anybody anymore.”

Watch:

So . . . that is the problem.   What do we do about it? All of us need to do something about this because it affects all of us in one way or another. Hunger is a problem that spawns bigger and more expensive social ills. Hunger leads to increased crime, education failures, depression and suicide, civil unrest and the breakdown of families to name only a few. It is a very large problem but if we each do just a little to help we can create an equally large solution.

I, myself, have decided that my action priority is to help to eradicate hunger among children and, to that end, I have found a truly amazing non-profit called Share Our Strength (SOS) that is leading the pack in attacking the problem of childhood hunger.

Here’s a short video describing Share our Strength’s view of the problem of childhood hunger:

Here are some facts, from SOS, to give you an idea of the scope of the problem:

The reality is that more than 12.4 million children in America—that’s one in six—are at risk of hunger. And it’s likely that these children will endure lifelong consequences as a result of having limited access to nutritious foods.

Hunger impairs our children’s health in significant and long-lasting ways:

· Impedes growth and development

· More illness, including stomach- and head aches, colds, ear infections and fatigue

· Poorer mental health

· More hospitalizations

· Greater susceptibility to obesity and its harmful health consequences

Hunger predisposes our children to behavioral difficulties, including:

· More aggressive behavior

· Higher levels of hyperactivity, anxiety and/or passivity

· Difficulty getting along with other children

· Greater need for mental health services

· Hunger impedes our children’s ability to learn and perform academically.

Hungry children are likely to:

· Have impaired cognitive functioning and diminished capacity to learn

· Achieve lower test scores and overall school performance

· Repeat a grade

· Experience school absences, tardiness and school suspensions

Indeed these two teachers confirm those findings:

“On any given day 10 out of 19 of my students have not eaten breakfast.”

Melissa, Public School teacher in NYC

“You can have the brightest children, but if their mind is overwhelmed with these other things, like being hungry, they’re not going to get what’s going on in the classroom.”

Kate, Teacher in San Antonio, TX

And hunger doesn’t discriminate. It can affect any child—even those you’d least expect.  Here are the sobering statistics:

More than 12.4 million children were at risk of hunger at some point last year. That’s 17.2% of all children, or one in six.

Food insecurity exists in 11.1% of all U.S. households:

30.2% of all single-mom households

37.7% of all households at or below the poverty line

Food insecure families (13.0 million households):

50.0 % of all food-insecure households are white

47.6% — 6.2 million — have kids under 18; 53.4% of these are single-parent households

39.2 % of food insecure households live in the South

33.8% live in major cities

33.3% live at or below the poverty line

23.1 % — nearly one-quarter — of food insecure households have kids under 6

Food-insecure children (12.4 million kids living at risk of hunger)

49.2% live in married-couple families

43.5% live in single-mom families

41.9% are white

41.1% — more than 5 million kids at risk of hunger — live at or below the poverty line.

40.3% live in the South

35.5% live in cities outside of major metro areas.

Share Our Strengths National Strategy

Share Our Strength’s national strategy to end childhood hunger weaves together a net of community groups, activists and food programs to catch children at risk of hunger and ensure they have nutritious food where they live, learn and play.

This strategy, and its supporting 10-Point Plan, are the result of many discussions and much collaboration among leading national, state and local hunger-relief organizations, among them the Food Research and Action Center and other members of the National Anti-Hunger Organizations.

SOS knows it cannot end childhood hunger alone. That’s why their approach is to build partnerships with organizations across the country whose interest in ending childhood hunger is as strong as their own.

It begins with supporting the most successful organizations working to end hunger in the United States while simultaneously focusing  efforts on three primary areas:

· Increase access to public and private programs that provide food to children and their families.

· Strengthen community resources that connect children to healthy food.

· Improve families’ knowledge about available programs and how to get the most from limited resources.

To carry out their strategy, SOS has developed a 10-Point Plan to help effectively end childhood hunger in America.  The plan helps bridge the gaps between existing programs that work and the families who need them. It’s a great plan that’s already at work but that needs to continue and grow to meet the need nationwide.  For that SOS needs all of us to join them in making it happen.

Here’s a summary of SOS’ 10 Point Plan:

1. Provide all children with a healthy breakfast. On a typical school day, 55.4% of America’s schoolchildren who are eligible for a healthy free or reduced-price school breakfast don’t get one. Our goal is to make sure every kid who can receive such a healthy start to his/her day does.

2. Encourage healthy food choices. Courses that teach practical nutrition information, cooking skills and food budgeting help families learn how to get more healthy meals out of tight budgets. Our plan supports such nutrition education programs — including Share Our Strength’s Operation Frontline — as ways to address childhood hunger, obesity and other diet-related diseases.

3. Help eligible families meet needs at home with access to food stamps. Nationally, only 60% of those eligible for the federal Food Stamp program receive benefits. Half of those recipients are children. Share Our Strength’s plan supports work to make food stamps more accessible to everyone who is eligible.

4. Improve the economic security of working families. Share Our Strength’s plan helps families achieve economic stability by supporting organizations that help families take advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for working families and the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) programs. In 2003, the EITC lifted 4.4 million people out of poverty, including 2.4 million children.

5. Increase families’ access to fresh, affordable produce in their own neighborhoods. For families living in America’s poor and working-class neighborhoods, fresh produce is both hard to find and expensive. Our plan supports efforts that bring solutions such as full-service supermarkets, farmers markets that accept food stamps and community gardens to these neighborhoods.

6. Help afterschool programs provide healthy meals and snacks. You’ve heard all the news about what kids are eating in school. Share Our Strength is also concerned about what they’re eating (or not) after school. Our goal is to encourage healthy snacking habits that kids will take into the future.

7. Expand the reach of summer meals programs. For too many kids, school vacations can be hungry times. Less than 10% of children eligible for summer food programs participate, leaving more than 16 million kids who don’t. Our plan supports efforts to make these programs accessible to more kids who need them and to make sure that the foods they eat are healthy.

8. Ensure access to balanced, nutritious diets for all pregnant women and preschool children. Good childhood health starts with good prenatal nutrition that continues through the preschool years. Yet too few eligible moms take advantage of the federal WIC program that provides nutrition education and supplemental food for qualifying families. Our plan supports efforts to enroll more eligible moms in these programs and others like them.

9. Ensure access to nutritious food in shelters and food pantries. Food banks, pantries, shelters and other emergency food providers need more food, especially healthy food. Fresh protein, produce and dairy products rank at the top of the list of the foods that pantries and shelters need most. Our plan supports efforts to help these providers offer a steady supply of healthier options.

10. Provide comprehensive public education about available resources and assistance. Families at risk of hunger need more and better information about the programs that will help their kids eat healthy meals no matter how tough things get financially. This is why education is a steady theme in our plan and why we support those who provide such education and outreach as well as those who advocate for it.

Now, For the Fun Part

Not only does SOS have a great plan but they’ve also come up with a number of really creative, fun ways to get involved and help.

Here’s what that looks like:

Great American Bake Sale

What could possibly be more All-American than a bake sale?  This fundraiser is my personal favorite and a lot of fun for a good cause. It also turns out that the Great American Bake Sale (GABS) is one of SOS’ best fundraisers. Just this year GABSs raised more than $1,210,000!

Here’s how it works:  when you sign up to host your own bake sale, you’ll receive your Participant Kit including:  Official Bake Sale poster, Participant Brochure with recipes and tips, and valuable coupons from SOS sponsors. You’ll also gain access to your own team Web page to promote your bake sale and collect donations online.  SOS is now sponsoring new Bake Sale Awards in different categories, and you can compete against others to be published in the top fundraising bake sales in the country.  All you need is a circle of baking friends, a venue and a few hours of your time to make a big difference for some hungry kids.

Here’s how your proceeds are used:

100% of the funds you raise help feed kids. Funds you raise from your local bake sale stay local, supporting after-school and summer feeding programs in your community — food programs that hundreds and thousands of kids depend on.

It’s a fun solution with a large impact. You can host a bake sale based on your schedule and in your community. You don’t have to train for six months to run a marathon or make a large donation to make a huge difference!

Sign up to host your own GABS

Here’s a video mash-up of this year’s bake sales from all over the country to get your creative juices (not to mention digestive juices) going:

Taste of the Nation

Fine dining and tasting events nationwide.   The best of the best in the restaurant business compete, regionally, and you have a ringside seat. Gifted chefs, table designers, wines are judged and you get to consume the entries. Even better, 100% of your ticket price helps ensure no kid in America grows up hungry.

Here’s a link to this year’s event in Los Angeles, held on June 14th, just to give you a feel for how amazing these events are. Tickets to upcoming events, by city can be purchased through the SOS website.

Great American Dineout

“When you eat, they eat”

This is an annual event, held over a week in September, during which thousands of restaurants nationwide donate their proceeds to Share Our Strength.   You can support SOS simply by having a night out on the town at a participating restaurant.  More details at SOS.

A Tasteful Pursuit

A national touring dinner series featuring the nation’s top chefs taking their creations to the our most famous culinary cities.

Enjoy the company of culinary icons and award-winning chefs like Michelle Bernstein, Daniel Boulud, Charlie Palmer, Michael Symon, David Burke and many others, indulge in unparalleled cuisine and bid on fabulous auction items — all to help end childhood hunger in America.

You can sign up for email notices when details on upcoming dates and cities become available on the SOS website.

Operation Frontline

A groundbreaking cooking-based nutrition education program that teaches families how to make nutritious, tasy meals on a limited budget.  Here’s a peek at what that’s about:

You can get involved with Operation Front Line on either a national or local level . . . details.

So there you are frumps, a slew of easy ways to make a difference for hungry kids.

Bon appetit!

Technorati Tags: hunger, starvation, Share Our Strength, childhood hunger, Bill Moyer’s journal

Tagged as: Bill Moyers Journal, childhood hunger, hunger, Share Our Strength, starvation