Meal programs and food pantries report record high numbers, especially over the summer when school meals are not available to stretch limited food budgets. At Hunger Free Vermont, we know that in these hungry households, children are not reaching their educational potential, elders are not getting the nutrition they need, and parents are risking their own health to make sure they provide for their children.
New research from Children’s HealthWatch tells us that when a household becomes food insecure, young children often are cognitively, emotionally, and physically behind their food-secure peers—delays which follow them through life, reducing their chance of graduating from high school and hurting their potential in the workforce.