by Alison Cohen, Program Director
The USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) released its annual report on Household Food Security in the U.S., which revealed that in 2008 49 million Americans (1 in 6) were food insecure. In other words, 14.6% of the population had difficulty putting enough food on the table at times during the year. This is an increase of 13 million households, or 3.5% percent, from 2007. The 2008 figures represent the highest level of food insecurity recorded since the USDA initiated this survey 14 years ago. This is sobering news.
USDA Secretary Vilsack pointed to the economic recession as the reason for this spike in hunger. But what accounts for the 36 million people in our country who were hungry before the economy slowed down? Clearly, our nation’s social safety net and programs to build self-reliance have proven inadequate to safeguard a large percentage of Americans from hunger and inadequate nutrition. Most startling in the recent report issued by the USDA is the figures that show more than half a million children suffered from “very low food insecurity” in 2008 – the agency’s euphemism for persistent hunger and inadequate nutrition.
There is, however, an opportunity sewn into the lining of this disturbing revelation about hunger in the U.S. President Obama has set as a goal for his Administration to end childhood hunger in our nation by 2015. The Child Nutrition and W.I.C. Reauthorization (CNR) Act is up for review in 2010. This critical piece of legislation originally enacted in the 1960s authorizes all of the federal school meal and child nutrition programs, including the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs, Summer Food Service, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), among others. It’s meant to reach millions of children every day, improving their educational achievement, economic security, nutrition, and health. Yes, it obviously fails to do so.
The opportunity for us in this bleak news is to heed Obama’s call to action by encouraging Congress to expand and strengthen the CNR Act. The 2006 Farm Bill failed in many ways to bring about a transformation of our current food system which is, arguably, the critical link in the persistence and escalation of hunger worldwide. The CNR Act is an opportunity that only comes around once every 5 years. Now is the time to call on legislators to mandate universal school meals and summer feeding programs, invest in proven community solutions that rebuild local food economies, ensure fair wages and just working conditions for all food industry and agricultural workers and, promote sustainably-grown foods as the basis for child nutrition and food security. WHY will be working with its partners across the country in the coming months to promote child nutrition programs that are universal, healthy, sustainable, and just (Read WHY’s platform on the CNR Act). By supporting grassroots organizations implementing innovative solutions to hunger in their communities and by strengthening the CNR Act, Obama’s goal to end childhood hunger in America is possible.
USDA Secretary Vilsack pointed to the economic recession as the reason for this spike in hunger. But what accounts for the 36 million people in our country who were hungry before the economy slowed down? Clearly, our nation’s social safety net and programs to build self-reliance have proven inadequate to safeguard a large percentage of Americans from hunger and inadequate nutrition. Most startling in the recent report issued by the USDA is the figures that show more than half a million children suffered from “very low food insecurity” in 2008 – the agency’s euphemism for persistent hunger and inadequate nutrition.
There is, however, an opportunity sewn into the lining of this disturbing revelation about hunger in the U.S. President Obama has set as a goal for his Administration to end childhood hunger in our nation by 2015. The Child Nutrition and W.I.C. Reauthorization (CNR) Act is up for review in 2010. This critical piece of legislation originally enacted in the 1960s authorizes all of the federal school meal and child nutrition programs, including the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs, Summer Food Service, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), among others. It’s meant to reach millions of children every day, improving their educational achievement, economic security, nutrition, and health. Yes, it obviously fails to do so.
The opportunity for us in this bleak news is to heed Obama’s call to action by encouraging Congress to expand and strengthen the CNR Act. The 2006 Farm Bill failed in many ways to bring about a transformation of our current food system which is, arguably, the critical link in the persistence and escalation of hunger worldwide. The CNR Act is an opportunity that only comes around once every 5 years. Now is the time to call on legislators to mandate universal school meals and summer feeding programs, invest in proven community solutions that rebuild local food economies, ensure fair wages and just working conditions for all food industry and agricultural workers and, promote sustainably-grown foods as the basis for child nutrition and food security. WHY will be working with its partners across the country in the coming months to promote child nutrition programs that are universal, healthy, sustainable, and just (Read WHY’s platform on the CNR Act). By supporting grassroots organizations implementing innovative solutions to hunger in their communities and by strengthening the CNR Act, Obama’s goal to end childhood hunger in America is possible.
