FRAC is excited that the President has set a goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015, and to launch our new blog focused on achieving that goal.
We are an extraordinarily affluent nation – even today, as we reach what we all hope is the bottom of the recession, but we are a nation that for too long has had too much hunger and food insecurity in the midst of our affluence. Even before the recession began more than 12 million American children were living in households that suffer from hunger or food insecurity. That’s more than 17 percent of all U.S. children.
During the presidential campaign, President Obama pledged to make it a priority to end childhood hunger (embed link to Obama plan) by 2015. Since being elected, he has signaled his continued support for this goal and his Administration has begun to take important steps to attack poverty and reduce hunger, even as this terrible recession has made the job harder, at least in the short term. We still have a long way to go.
I believe it is realistic to imagine that six years from now, every American child will begin each day secure that she will have enough nutritious food. Six years from now, every family should know where it can turn if it has hit a rough patch and can’t afford that nutritious food.
FRAC has developed a seven-pronged strategy to accomplish this goal. (link to full paper) We think it’s a strong starting point, and we must start now. We invite you to keep a close watch on 2015. In the coming weeks and months, we will post frequently here and have guest postings from other people and groups committed to achieving the 2015 goal. We’ll keep tabs on Capitol Hill and on USDA and other government agencies and blog about critical legislation and administrative steps, including the upcoming reauthorization of the child nutrition programs. We’ll follow 2015 press coverage and share it with you.
This is an important time in our nation and the policy decisions we make now will impact generations of children and families. 2015 will foster conversation and spur ideas on how best to achieve the goal by 2015. Take a look at the summary of FRAC’s 2015 strategy below or read the full paper. (link to full paper) I look forward to hearing your comments and working together to end childhood hunger by 2015.
Jim Weill
President of the Food Research and Action Center
Summary of 2015 paper
FRAC’s “Ending Childhood Hunger by 2015: The Essential Strategies for Achieving the President’s Goal” sets out seven essential strategies to achieving that goal. They focus both on improving and expanding the nation’s nutrition programs, and bolstering the economy and strengthening supports for low-income families in order to move more out of poverty, the root cause of hunger in this country.
In brief, the seven strategies are:
For the full paper, visit www.endingchildhunger2015.org.
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