For many families, summer seems to be half over, even though the season only began Tuesday. That's because most schools start the new academic year now in August, which won't be soon enough for children in low-income families, who spend much of their summer hungry.
New research says that if the states of Ohio and Michigan did their jobs better, many of those children wouldn't have to be hungry.
It only makes sense for both states to expand their summer child nutrition programs. If Ohio did, another 134,000 children would be fed and the state could collect another $6.8 million in guaranteed federal funding. If Michigan expanded its summer food program, it could feed 112,000 more children and get $5.6 million more in federal funds.
So why don't both states do better? An anti-hunger group in Washington, Food Research and Action Center, wants to know, too. In fact, FRAC said last year, for every 100 children eligible for free or reduced lunches during the school year, only 11 participated in Ohio's 2004 summer food program. In Michigan, 13 of 100 such children received meals last summer.
Compare that to Hawaii and to the District of Columbia. Both served 40 of every 100 eligible children last summer. FRAC says 40 percent is a reasonable goal. But why not aim higher and feed every hungry child? These are children, remember, whose eligibility for a free meal is not in question.
Every state ought to improve on this effort, especially now that there is less paperwork, and reimbursement rates for summer meals have been slightly increased. Managing the program ought to be a little easier too, when state education departments and not the federal agriculture department run summer feeding programs.Whatever it takes to feed more hungry children should be what counts. How important is this? Next time you are hungry, really hungry, think about waiting until August for your next solid meal.
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