Let All Who are Hungry Come and Eat

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Let All Who are Hungry Come and Eat
March 11, 2010
Holidays | Social Action (0 comments)

CNS Logo.jpg by David Goodman
Legislative Assistant, RAC

(Originally published on RACblog)

Believe it or not, the impetus for the creation of the National School Lunch Program in 1946 was that malnourishment was rendering large numbers of young men ineligible to join the military. When President Truman signed the 1946 National School Lunch Act, the preface said that the creation of the program was a "measure of national security, to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation's children." (Can you imagine anyone saying that today?). Today, Child Nutrition Programs are a crucial financial safety net for over 31 million students who receive breakfast, lunch, and an afterschool snack during the school year, as well as during the summer. These programs all fall under the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Bill, which is coming before Congress this year to be reviewed and refunded.

The depth and breadth of hunger in the United States can be easily conveyed by statistics: 17.6 million food insecure households, making up 49.1 million people. A record of nearly 38 million people relied on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, formerly known as food stamps, at last count. These numbers are even starker for children: the food insecurity rate for households with children is nearly double the overall average. Feeding America, which operates more than 200 food banks and soup kitchens across the country, found that 38% of those they served were children under age 18, and four out of five food insecure families served have children under 18.

Child nutrition programs ease the burden on these families by assuring children at least one healthy meal a day. But these are more than nutrition programs: Studies show that school meals have a positive effect not only on hunger but also on classroom behavior, test scores and school attendance. School meals also support better nutrition, and address the problem of childhood obesity and related health problems. They are a multi-front anti-poverty tool, and must be robustly re-funded when Congress reauthorizes them this year.

Urge your Members of Congress to support increased funding for child nutrition programs by sending an e-mail through the RAC's Chai impact action center, or host a Child Nutrition Seder to raise awareness about childhood hunger in America. As we say each year in the Seder, "Let all who are hungry come and eat!"

Tags: food, Passover, RAC, social justice, Tikkun Olam

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