This year, the federal child nutrition programs are up for reauthorization, and Congress has a unique opportunity to ensure improved access to nutritious food for millions of children. MAZON, together with the nation's anti-hunger community, is working to secure government funding to continue and expand participation in this crucial program so that no child will go to school hungry.
One of the cornerstones of the federal government's hunger-relief efforts, child nutrition programs feed millions of school-age kids every day. In fact, these programs provide more than 8 million children with school breakfast, and 27 million with school lunch. Not only do these children rely on federally-funded nutrition programs at school; for some, school is the only place to get any food at all.
Our kids need more than an effective education to succeed—sick and hungry children can't learn. The link between good nutrition and good education is clearly demonstrated by higher test scores, better attendance and fewer behavior problems in school. According to the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, children who skip breakfast are less able to distinguish among similar images and have slower memory recall.
That is why in 1946, Congress passed the National School Lunch Act as a “measure of national security, to safeguard the health and well being of the nation's children.” Since then, the program has grown to include the School Breakfast Program, the After-School Snack Program and the Summer Foods Program.
To qualify for free or reduced-price school meals, children must live in a family that earns an annual income near the federal poverty level (in 2001, $17,650 for a family of four, or $12 per person per day before taxes).
Currently, many obstacles prevent thousands of eligible children from participating in the program; these obstacles vary from community to community. For instance, families are forced to fill out lengthy and repetitive applications. A family with four children may have to fill out as many as eight separate applications (one application per child per program.)
Additionally, in its present incarnation, in many low-income rural areas the program doesn't address after-school needs. In these areas, neither suppers nor supervision are available for children whose parents work and commute long hours. Also, the eligibility of homeless children for school nutrition programs ends once the child reaches age 12, which means that thousands of homeless teenagers are not qualified to receive any federal food assistance in schools.
MAZON responds to these needs by granting funds to local and national experts in the field. One such long-time MAZON grantee is the Food Research and Action Center in Washington DC (FRAC). Through its Building Blocks Project, FRAC has partnered with local organizations to ensure that children and families are able to make the fullest possible use of federal nutrition programs. The project also encourages communities to develop and strengthen existing services (such as after school programs, peer tutoring opportunities and summer recreation and enrichment programs) that foster the development and enhance the self-esteem of children.
The work of MAZON-supported advocates helps feed more of our nation's children every day. With MAZON's help, the federal child nutrition programs will allow millions of children to focus on their schoolwork, and not on securing their next meal.
H. Eric Schockman, Ph.D., is the President of MAZON.