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U.S.
Senator Sherrod Brown
Hunger
Doesn’t Take a Summer Vacation
More than
840,000 children in Ohio depend on school for more than an education.
For
children living well-below the poverty line, schools also provide a
dependable
source of food and nutrition.
During the
school year, more than 840,000 Ohio children receive nutrition
assistance
through free or reduced-price school lunches. So what happens to these
children
during the summer months? While critical lifelines – providing
essential
support – are available, many Ohio families don’t know about them.
Now that
school is out for summer, these Ohio children whose parents,
grandparents, or
guardians are struggling to make ends meet can still have healthy
meals. With
our nation’s abundance, no child should ever go hungry even when school
is out
for the summer. To close the hunger gap, the United States Department
of
Agriculture’s (USDA) Summer Food Service program works with the Ohio
Department
of Education to provide school-aged children with the healthy meals
they need
to grow strong and thrive academically.
The Summer
Food Service Program – which provides breakfast, lunch, or a snack for
children
under 18 – is critical to staving off a potential lack of nutritious
food
during the summer months that can further disadvantage children who
live in
food deserts or who come from low-income, working-class families.
The demand
for these services is significant. Last year, nearly 1,500 food service
sites
throughout Ohio reached children in 74 counties. And this year, there
are even
more sites to which Ohio families can turn—more than 1,700 across 77
counties.
With too many families still out of work, we have to expand outreach to
the
families who need help now.
Ensuring
that schoolchildren have access to healthy food during the summer is
critical
because malnutrition during childhood can lead to major health problems
in the
future. Childhood obesity, diabetes, delayed growth, and brittle bones
are all
possible health effects for young people who don’t have their
nutritional needs
met – stacking the odds not only against their well-being, but also
burdening
Ohio’s Medicaid system and economy.
Although
Summer Food sites are located throughout the Buckeye state, only 66,000
of the
840,000 children who receive nutrition assistance during the academic
year
participate in summer meal programs. That’s why two years ago, I
co–hosted a
first-of-its-kind hunger summit at the Mid-Ohio Foodbank with leading
anti-hunger advocates from across Ohio. This past year, USDA
Undersecretary
Kevin Concannon came to Ohio to hold the second summit.
Rather than
lament a growing problem, we discussed how Ohio stakeholders can work
together
to increase the number of community leaders, sponsors, volunteers, and
sites that
can provide children with nutritious meals during both the school year
and
summer months.
While 11
Ohio counties that lack summer food service program sites, it’s not too
late
for potential sponsors to set up a program in their town. Though the
official
deadline was May 31, interested sponsors and volunteers can still work
with the
Ohio Department of Education to establish new centers for children to
get
meals.
At schools
in Appalachia, places of worship in urban areas, summer camps in rural
areas,
and recreational centers in big cities, young Ohioans can get the food
they
need to succeed.
Summer
break shouldn’t mean a break from good nutrition. The single biggest
thing we
can do is to make sure more people know about this program. Outreach
and public
awareness are critical components to ensure that the end of the school
year
doesn’t mean an end to hunger.
For a
complete list of summer food service program sites in Ohio, please call
800-808-MEAL (6325) or visit my website at www.brown.senate.gov.
Sincerely,
Sherrod
Brown
U.S.
Senator
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