By Jennifer Fernandez
As child advocates last week discussed the growing food insecurity among North Carolina’s children, the U.S. House of Representatives took steps to cut federal programs that help combat child hunger.
The House on Feb. 25 narrowly passed a Republican-backed budget blueprint that includes potential cuts of $880 billion over 10 years to the committee that handles health care spending, which includes Medicaid, the Associated Press reported. The agriculture committee that funds food stamps could face $230 billion in cuts.
One in five children in North Carolina live in hunger, according to the No Kid Hungry campaign.
“We don’t know where this is going to end,” North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, said Feb. 25 at the annual NC Child Hunger Leaders Conference at UNC Chapel Hill.
“We have to be motivated,” he continued. “We have to reach out to our federal congressional members. They have to know that there is a constituency that cares about the health and well-being of our children and will not accept these cuts lying down.”
Other speakers echoed those calls for action as they discussed what the state is doing to address the need. Efforts range from expanding ways to reach children in summer feeding programs, to launching a new program aimed at tackling food insecurity among college students, to using Medicaid dollars through the Healthy Opportunities Pilot program to address things such as food insecurity that can impact health.
“Your voice does count,” said Kristen Watford, a school counselor for Bertie County Schools. “Vote. It’s important who you vote for. Make sure that child nutrition is in the top of their list.”
Food aid requests rising
Programs that were established and ramped up during the COVID-19 pandemic helped alleviate child hunger in the state, which had been on an upward trajectory, according to Jan Jones, director of public policy for Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC.
The nonprofit, which serves 18 counties, saw requests for emergency food aid spike when the federal emergency food allotment aid ended. Each year those requests drop around November and December because more food aid programs are available during the holidays, she said.
Requests for emergency food aid spiked again last September when Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina and then dropped as programs were put in place to help affected families, Jones said.
Still, the overall trend the past three years has been an increase in need, she said. And that data only reflects emergency aid requests
The remnants of Hurricane Helene slammed through western North Carolina in late September, leaving more than 100 people dead and thousands of homes destroyed in the state. Some schools closed for several weeks, but districts were not idle. School nurses, teachers and others helped at emergency shelters and tracked down students and their families to make sure they were OK and had food and supplies.
The storm provided schools an opportunity to see the community they serve through a completely different lens, said Wilkesboro Elementary School Principal Beckie Spears, the 2024 Wells Fargo North Carolina Principal of the Year.
“It was a wake-up call that I don’t think I realized I needed,” she said. “And I don’t think our community did. But in those early days when we were trying to figure out how to get Chromebooks and packets to kids, what we realized was that for most families in our community, their biggest need was a stable hot meal.”
Why free school meals?
Studies in North Carolina have shown that schools that provide free meals for all students are more likely to have better standardized test results and to meet academic growth standards, according to School Meals for All NC. Out-of-school suspensions also dropped at middle and high schools that provided no-cost meals.
In addition, student attendance improves and behavioral referrals drop when children eat breakfast at school, the group said.
Low-income students can qualify for free or reduced-price lunch through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs. Typically, only students whose family income is no more than 185 percent of the federal poverty threshold qualify for the meals.
The Community Eligibility Provision, first offered about 15 years ago, allows schools and districts that are in high-poverty areas to give all students free meals, regardless of their family income. Making the meals free schoolwide reduces the stigma associated with needing help and increases the number of children eating a nutritious meal, according to a USDA fact sheet on the program.
More schools and districts now qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision since the USDA reduced the minimum threshold of students living in poverty from 40 percent to 25 percent.
Want to go?
What: Town hall on hunger
When: 5:30-7:30 p.m. March 24
Where: Online and in person at 3330 Shorefair Drive NW, Winston-Salem, 27105
More information: Register online to attend either in person or online.
North Carolina added 651 more schools to the Community Eligibility Provision last academic year, according to a report by the Food Research and Action Center. The expansion added 344,820 students, putting North Carolina second only to New York that year in adding more students to the free meals program.
Since Pitt County Schools started participating in the program, they have served 14 percent more lunches and 21 percent more breakfasts, Stein said at last week’s hunger conference.
Those aren’t just numbers, he said. Those are children who used to miss meals or whose school meals were putting a strain on their family’s budget. Now, with “a full belly,” they’re ready to learn, Stein said.
“When kids can count on a free meal at school, their physical, mental and behavioral health is better. They show up to school more consistently. They’re less likely to be tardy. They can focus better on learning, retaining what they’re taught,” he said.
“They get higher grades and better test scores in long-term studies,” Stein continued. “Kids who consistently got breakfast in school and lunch at school have stronger, long-term, educational attainment outcomes.
“In other words, if we want our kids to succeed, we’ve got to ensure they are fed.”
Summer meals
Watford said offering free meals for all students is especially important in Bertie County.
“Coming from a rural area where there is economic disparity, if there were not free meals, our students wouldn’t eat,” she said.
And that becomes a big issue when schools are closed, like during bad weather or natural disasters. Summer can also be problematic for students who rely on the free meals at school for the majority of their nutrition.
North Carolina tries to bridge that gap with the Summer Nutrition Programs. Any child 18 or younger can get meals free during the summer at one of more than 2,500 sites across the state. The sites are often at schools but can also be at faith-based facilities, camps, parks, libraries and community centers.
Summer food aid for children
- Once meal programs start for the summer, parents can search for sites near them.
- They can text “food” to 304-304 and provide their full address, ZIP code or city.
- People can call 211 or 866-348-6479 (English) or 877-842-6273 (Spanish).
Still, low-income families with limited access to transportation may struggle to get to the meal sites.
At last week’s hunger conference, schools shared efforts they’ve made to reach children during the summer. Several said they used federal funds to buy vans for food delivery. Some offered drive-thru sites for families to pick up food.
North Carolina participated last summer in SUN Bucks, a new food assistance program from the USDA geared toward easing the strain of feeding children over the summer. It gives eligible families with school-age children a one-time stipend of $120 per child to help pay for groceries while school is out.
In the first year, the program distributed about $130 million in food assistance to 1 million children in the state, Stein said.
North Carolina is participating again this summer.
“Summer should be a time of fun and making memories,” Stein said, “not experiencing hunger.”
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