raisinbran20 asked
Last year, according to the Department of Agriculture, 34.9 million Americans like the Compeans were “food insecure”—the government’s term for those who must survive on a diet not nutritious enough to keep a child or an adult healthy. More than 13 million of those people were children. The U.S. Conference of Mayors expects that requests for emergency food from families with children will increase in 91% of the nation’s cities this year. They also document that emergency food outlets in 56% of the nation’s cities turned away hungry families last year because they ran out of resources. Federal programs such as food stamps and free school lunches provide critical nutrition to millions of children. And an army of volunteers at food banks, church pantries and soup kitchens is struggling to get food to the children who need it most. But the safety net that most Americans presume is there to catch children before they sink too far is torn in too many places, leaving far too many in free fall. “Food is a basic right for every American child,” says Bill Shore, executive director of Share Our Strength, the anti-hunger organization that works with PARADE and other partners to sponsor the annual Great American Bake Sale™. “This is the wealthiest nation on earth, and we have the resources to wipe out child hunger in our time. All it takes is the political will to make the welfare of children one of our nation’s top priorities.” The first step is coming to terms with the shattering effect the unstable economy has had on families. “In spite of recent reports that the economy has rebounded, our pantries and soup kitchens are trying to serve a surging number of families,” says Robert Forney, president and CEO of America’s Second Harvest, a network of more than 200 regional food banks. Second Harvest distributed nearly 2 billion pounds of food last year to more than 23 million hungry Americans, including 9 million children. “Millions of people have used up their unemployment
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