Something that I feel is very important came to my attention. Hunger Hits Home. Many people have made it their mission to help feed children all over the world, which is awesome, but how often do you hear of people feeding the children we have here in our country? It is hard to take a look at your own country and realize, we too have hungry children right here at home.
Here are 5 facts about childhood hunger in the United States:
1. More than 16 million kids in America live in households that struggle to put
food on the table. That’s 1 out of 5 kids.
2. There were also over 16.4 million children in America living in poverty in 2010.
That’s almost 1 million more than in 2009.
3. 9.8 million kids get free or reduced-price school breakfast on an average
school day, more than ever before…but 10.5 million eligible kids go without.
4. Only 1 in 7 kids who get free and reduced-priced school lunches receive
summer meals.
5. Almost 45 million Americans used SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program, formerly food stamps) during 2011. Nearly 75 percent of these are in
families with children and more than a quarter are in households with seniors
or people with disabilities.
All 5 of these facts surprised me, but the one that really stuck out was #4. We’ve all seen children in the lunch lines at school who receive free or reduced-price meals. Have you ever stopped to think, that may be their ONLY meal that day? I’ve never realized until today, what do these children do in the summer? They go hungry. And no child should go hungry.
What can you do?
Sign the Petition to Support Hunger Hits Home
Check out the trailer for Hunger Hits Home on Food Network
Watch the documentary premiering April 14 at 8pm/7c on Food Network
This Carolina Girl 
What a great post, thanks so much for sharing this! 🙂
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Hi Krista, As a dietitian, I'm passionate about the issue of addressing hunger in our country. It's unfathomable that we have so many people suffering from hunger, many of them, children. And school meals can make such a difference for them. Thank you so much for bringing attention to this issue and the Food Network documentary.
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As soon as I read it, I was touched and realized how much I've ignored this issue. And it is so true and so real. I'm glad there are people out there that use their lives to bring awareness to us. Hopefully they will receive more donations than they were expecting!Please feel free to pass this post around, would love to get the word out even more!
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Honestly, I felt it was the LEAST I could do. Will be making a donation here soon. Don't want to be a downer on a Friday, but it just breaks my heart to think of children being hungry. Feel free to pass it along, hope others will tune in 🙂
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Thank you for this thought-provoking post. It reminds us all that if food is a joy in our lives we are very fortunate indeed. I am making a donation. Allen.
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Again, such a great point. All of us food bloggers should really take a look at how lucky we are that all we really worry about, is if a recipe tastes good or not. No worries about being hungry…unless it was that terrible! But still, we have the choice to go hungry and these children don't. So glad to hear that you donated!!
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Thank you for sharing this.
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