by Monica Palmer

Public schools in our town let out last Thursday.  I’m sure most kids were very excited to flee the confines of the school and escape to a land of swimming pools and summer camps.

Not every kid is excited about the break from school, though, because to some kids, no school means no food.

As my son raids the pantry for the second time this afternoon, I pause to think about a story I heard about another Missouri boy.  This boy participated in the backpack program at his school, and he counted on and looked forward to that weekly backpack filled with nutritious food from his local food bank.  Several weeks before school let out, he began setting aside a few things from each sack.  This elementary school student was actually rationing his food, so that he could survive the summer ahead! 

According to Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap, an estimated 308,110 Missouri children are living in food insecure homes.  Many of those children depend on programs like free and reduced lunches at school and weekend back pack programs to provide essential food.  Summer means a break in those programs.

There are summer feeding programs available, but not all eligible kids participate in these programs.  In fact, Missouri is currently ranked 44th in the US for low participation in the Summer Nutrition Programs, but we are ranked 2nd in the nation for Very Low Food Security and 7th for Low Food Security.  So why don’t kids from food insecure homes participate?

Some experts attribute the low participation to Missouri’s summer weather.  Last summer was particularly hot and humid, and we had quite a few storms that kept kids at home and indoors.  Another reason is that some families don’t even know these programs exist.  For these reasons and more, the USDA has chosen Missouri as one of six states to be targeted for extra efforts to get the word out to families in need, so we can feed more hungry kids this summer.

The six food banks in Missouri are working hard to make sure our partner feeding agencies are getting food to distribute to our neighbors, but this is a definite time of increased need in our state.  More food and funds are necessary to meet the demand.  Please do what is in your power to make sure that kids don’t have to live with the stress and anxiety of not knowing whether or not there will be reliable food in their future for the next several weeks.