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Numbers of Hungry Children Increasing In US

   Elizabeth Lee | Washington, DC 31 December 2009
   Kids  Cafe is a community center that teaches children from low income
   homes  and are at risk of going hungry how to prepare healthy meals --
   for themselves and their families

Photo: VOA

   Kids  Cafe is a community center that teaches children from low income
   homes  and are at risk of going hungry how to prepare healthy meals --
   for themselves and their families

   President  Barack  Obama  has pledged to end childhood hunger by 2015.
   Responding  to  that  goal,  anti-hunger organizations have produced a
   report  that  discusses  the causes of childhood hunger in America and
   what can be done to improve the situation. The report says one in four
   children in America do not have access to healthy foods.
   This is not a traditional cooking school. Its students are some of the
   youngest chefs in Washington.
   "I  think it's a very good class," says Sade Gray. She and her brother
   Dearjhe are students at Kids Cafe.
   This free, six-week cooking class in a local community center is a big
   help for their mother, who is raising four children on her own.
   "Trying to balance out four kids, trying to pay her rent, trying to do
   medical  bills,  trying  to  keep their clothing and food, it's hard,"
   says  Community  center  director  Wanda  Flibbonds.  She  adds  these
   students  come  from  low income homes and are at risk of going hungry
   every day.

   Kids  Cafe  feeds  them  after  school and teaches them how to prepare
   healthy meals - for themselves and their families.
   "A  lot  of them here have to fix meals for their brothers and sisters
   that they have at home," Flibbonds explained.
   Kids Cafe gets its ingredients from the Capital Area Food Bank.

   From meats to milk to everything in between, this warehouse is stocked
   with food donated for families in need.
   Jodi Balis is the food bank's nutritionist. "Food is oftentimes one of
   the  first things to go because rent needs to be paid, for health care
   needs  to be paid for," Balis said. "In low income neighborhoods fresh
   produce,  healthier  foods  are  less  available simply because corner
   stores and convenience stores are where people are shopping."
   Many  low  income  communities,  like  Sade  Gray's,  have few grocery
   stores.
   A  report  released by National Anti-Hunger Organizations finds nearly
   one in four children in America do not have access to healthy foods.
   Nutritionists  say children who don't eat right and are undernourished
   have  a difficult time concentrating and tend to fall behind in school
   academically and socially.
   These  volunteers at the food bank are trying to help as many children
   as  possible,  but  according  to  the report, the recession is making
   things  worse.  From  2007 to 2008, there was a 34 percent jump in the
   number  of children at risk of hunger, because their families were not
   always  able to provide daily meals. The report expects that number to
   rise.
   On Capitol Hill, National Anti-Hunger Organizations asked lawmakers to
   end hunger.
   They  want the government to boost the economy so there are more jobs.
   They  are  also  asking the government to expand programs that provide
   free meals at schools, on weekends, and during the summer.

   David  Backmann  with  Bread for the World wants President Obama to be
   more  active  in  ending  childhood  hunger.  "We are not going to end
   childhood  hunger by 2015 if the president of the United States is not
   mobilizing the whole nation," Backmann said.
   Here  at  Kids Cafe, volunteers try to send these children home with a
   full stomach. It  may be the only food they'll eat until morning.

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