Abstract
This paper explores the unfortunate reality that 1 in 5 children in the State of Idaho face food insecurity. The Idaho Food Bank attempts to supplement this imbalance through several programs, including the Backpack Program, which supplies approximately 1,800 backpacks filled with food to a select number of children every weekend of the school year. While this is indeed a tremendous help to those in need, the issue lies in the disparity between what is available, and what is needed as the number of hungry children is in the tens of thousands. The implementation of semi-supported food pantries that are partnered with the Idaho Food Bank and various schools across the state will help reduce the number of children in Idaho who do not have access to sufficient food each day. These food pantries will also help to negate the harmful effects that a lack of food has on children, and help to avoid the crisis of undernourishment. This paper also examines other options to help feed the hungry children of Idaho, as well as how to help the other programs that are currently in place.
Food Insecurity in Idaho:
Combating the Lack of Food Through Cooperative Food Pantries
Food insecurity is defined as the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. One in 5 children in the state of Idaho are underfed or face some form of food insecurity. With nearly half a million children currently residing in this state, the numbers are quite staggering. Currently the Idaho Food Bank has multiple programs in place to help feed these children such as Kids Café, the Summer Food Service Program, and the Backpack Program. This paper will focus on the Backpack program, established in early 2000. This program has been in place for more than 15 years, and currently is providing roughly 1,800 backpacks filled with food to a select number of children every Friday of the school year. In 2016, they have distributed approximately 64,000 backpacks to kids and teens across the state, which contain lightweight, non-perishable, nutritious foods that are easy for the children to prepare (Idaho Food Bank, 2016). Volunteers pack 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 2 snacks, and 2 dinners to help low income children get through the weekend, and while this is indeed a tremendous help to those in need, there is simply not enough to go around. For low-income students, time spent worrying about their next meal is time that cannot be recovered.
Meeting the Need
According to Feeding America, “more than 22 million children receive free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program and the National School breakfast Program” (Feeding America, 2016). Several of these children rely on school meals, as they are in some cases the only meals they get to eat. Weekends become not a time for rest and relaxation, but long days waiting for Monday’s school lunch or breakfast. The Idaho Food Bank in partnership with Feeding America recognized this hardship and came up with a plan to help. In early 2000, a team of Feeding America employees came together and proposed a plan to reach more hungry children. In partnership with numerous food banks across the nation, Feeding America has been able to help millions of children and teens over the course of the Backpack Program’s inception. As a result, backpacks are assembled at “more than 160 local food banks and then distributed to more than 450,000 children at the end of each week” (Feeding America, 2016). This program’s success is crucial as there are so many children and teens that are dependent upon receiving this assistance. It keeps these children fed, and limits their concern over when or where they will be able to get their next meal. Besides putting food in their bellies, there are far reaching positive impacts of the Backpack Program. By “providing food and keeping hunger at bay, [the program] impacts a child’s social, emotional, and physical well-being” (Idaho Food Bank, 2016). It also helps by relieving the financial and emotional stress that parents bear when there is not enough food in the home. When the basic need of food is met, families and children thrive.
Where My Passion Started
I was an Elementary Education major before switching to Multidisciplinary Studies in the Fall of 2015. It was during my time at these schools that I became aware of the several programs in place to help children in need, and knew a few who benefited from the Backpack Program. There were also numerous teachers who would take it upon themselves to supply their own versions of the backpacks that the Food Bank passed out as a way to make sure that children facing hardship had some form of nutrition to tide them over until Monday morning. There is one particular memory I have of witnessing this generosity, and it was a Friday afternoon in the spring of 2015. I was volunteering in a second grade class and was helping the children pack their bags to go home for the day, and one child in particular was having a hard time fitting everything in his bag. I offered my help, and when I unzipped his pack I saw a grocery bag filled with food. I did not say a word, but the sweet young boy I was helping said, “Ms. I. gives me food for the weekend. She is so nice” (anonymous 1). At that moment, an issue that had been hidden was revealed to me. Although at the time I was unaware that there was such a need for these children, I was able to witness the gratitude and love in that boy’s face when he spoke of the kindness of his wonderful teacher.
I developed a sense of awareness of the issue of underfed children, and committed myself to making a positive change by donating food and money to the food bank, as well as donations to the school to help cover breakfasts or lunches for children who did not have the money to pay for their own food. When I discovered we were going to incorporate service learning with our final project, I knew that I wanted to work closely with the Idaho Food Bank to continue the fight for struggling families.
The Need
My time spent at the food bank has illuminated more than just the problem of food insecurity. Because of my service learning opportunity with the food bank, I have familiarized myself with the programs that are in place to help the underfed of Idaho, and also where the need comes from. As mentioned before, there are currently 22 million children enrolled in the free or reduced-price lunch program. In many cases, the meals these children receive at school are their main sustenance, and unfortunately they have very little to no food to carry them through Saturday and Sunday. Going without food for any length of time is challenging, but going the whole weekend makes learning quite difficult come Monday morning. That is why there are many children who rely heavily on the Backpack Program in order to get by, and why they need all the support they can get. This is an issue that is very close to my heart, as children are helpless to change their surroundings and forced to deal with struggles that they have no control over.
Besides stress and helplessness, there are other negative implications that come with hunger. Scientists and child advocates are learning that short-term food insecurity leads to long-term health and mental problems for children.
Negative Implications of Not Having Enough Food
Studies have shown that a lack of access to nutritious food and resulting hunger are very much correlated with negative mental and physical effects, particularly those in the pediatric population. A study done in Ecuador found that food insecurity along with resulting hunger can “increase the risk for obesity later in life, the stunting of growth, nutritional deficiencies, and illness in general” (Romo, Abril-Ulloa, & Kelvin, 2016). A lack of food greatly diminishes the quality of life for these children in both the short term, as well as the long-term sense. An even more alarming result of hunger is depression and thoughts of death. In 2002, The Journal of Nutrition reported that not only does food insufficiency negatively affect a child’s health and academic abilities, is also increases the chances for “depressive disorders and suicidal symptoms” (Alaimo, Olson, & Frongillo, 2002).
During my studies I spent time in Boise area elementary schools, and saw the negative impact that the children who came from low-income families faced on a daily basis when they did not have adequate access to food. Sluggishness, inattentiveness, irritability, lack of energy, and a decrease in mental capacity are just a few of the negative effects I witnessed on more than one occasion.
In text citation for interview: (Vonda Pattee, “Where Food is Needed the Most”, 2016)
One of the first people I met when I began volunteering at the food bank was Vonda Pattee. Given her lengthy time servicing the needy of Idaho, I was highly interested in what she had to say about child food insecurity, and what could be done further to help the children of Idaho.
ME: Vonda, you have been employed with the Idaho Food Bank for over 12 years. Is there one program or issue that you feel needs a lot of attention?
Vonda: Absolutely. While all of our programs do a very good job of helping families in need, there is an area that needs a lot of support, and that is our Backpack program. Unfortunately there are a lot of kids out there who do not have enough access to food. These kids and teens depend on our program to get them through the weekend, and there is not enough to go around. Right now we are handing out about 1800 backpacks every Friday, but there are tens of thousands of kids who need it. It is heartbreaking.
ME: Vonda, do you have a suggestion on what can be done to help the program?
Vonda- We always need donations as it costs us over $400,000 annually to fund the program because of the specialty food that is packed. What would be a tremendous help would be to help high school kids get better access to food. The backpack program does help a few of these kids thru the program, but it is not really enough given how much food is packed in the bags. Most of these kids can polish off all of their meals in one day, and they may be too proud to ask for help during the week. In some cases there are teens living in their cars, or by themselves. They should be focusing on school, not where their next meal is coming from.
ME: So we need to make food more accessible for these kids, and currently there is not really a program in place for that, correct?
Vonda: Precisely.
In speaking to Vonda, I began to wonder what could be done to help reach more children. As I gazed over the hundreds of pallets in the food bank warehouse, an idea hit me. What if we were able to create food pantries in schools?
These food pantries can help to negate the harmful effects that a lack of food can have on children, allow easier and discreet access to food, and help to bridge the gap between what is available and what is needed. How do we supply the pantries? School led food drives, accepting ongoing donations, publish in school/classroom newsletters that there is a need, pantry, etc.
Talk about other schools that have implemented such a program, how they are stocked, what they are stocked with, how they are set up in the schools, success they have experienced, and if they truly are a help.
It is incredibly important to support the existing programs while coming up with other alternative to reach out to more hungry children.