Combating Summer Hunger

The end of the school year is a sign of warm weather, pool days, and cool summer treats. What’s not to look forward to? How about not knowing how you will feed your children 3 square meals a day. For the parents of thousands of children in Allegheny County who receive free lunches and participated in school breakfast programs, the approach of summer is a stressful time. This year nearly 50,000 students in Allegheny County received steady meals provided through the National School Lunch Program, designed to keep children from low income families out of hunger. When school is not in session, families who participated in the National School Lunch program and the School Breakfast program now have to budget for 30-60 meals each month per child. The result is children receive less nutritious and smaller meals, or sometimes no meal at all. Proper nutrition is an important part of leading a healthy lifestyle. Without proper nutrition children become sluggish lowering physical activity participation. Together good nutrition and physical activity allows children to maintain a healthy weight, reduce their risk of chronic disease, and promote overall health. Overall health includes physical and mental health. Without proper nutrition children may experience brain development and behavioral issues. Summer hunger is a problem that causes anxiety for many families and children. The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and the Southwest Food Partnerships along with other agencies in Allegheny County are working together to put an end to summer hunger through the Summer Food Service Program.

Summer Food Service Programs in Pennsylvania are federally funded free lunch programs that provide lunch to children 18 years and under. About 70,000 children across the county are eligible for the program, however on average only 10,000 children participate each day. The Food Bank is working towards increasing participation in various ways. Through outreach and promotion the Food Bank is raising awareness about the Summer Food Service Programs and how families can access them. Before the start of summer, businesses were given banners, posters, flyers and information on summer feeding sites to share with customers. Door to door outreach was done to provide families with information. A hotline was created so families can call dial 211 to find their closest site. Additionally the Food Bank is working to increase program capacity by providing health education through interactive actives focused on fitness and nutrition.

Sites provide the healthy meals, but it is up to the child to eat it. This is where fitness and nutrition education play a vital role in a child’s life. I serve at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank as a Nutrition Educator. This summer I have had the privilege of visiting many Summer Foods Sites to sit down with children and talk about food. Through Kids Cook lessons, and fruit, veggie, and dairy tastings children have been able to explore foods they’ve never tasted. During a veggie tasting one child said “these peppers are yummy, I won’t pick them out of my mom’s chili anymore”. This child found a new veggie that she likes making meal time more nutritious and a little easier for her and her mom. The more familiar children are with different foods the more likely they are to try it food for the first or second time.  My favorite part has been revisiting sites where children are overjoyed to share what new healthy food they tried and are continuing to eat. Food should be enjoyable just like summer.