It’s more than doubled in size, a lot of that was driven due to the deep recession
starting in 2008, but actually the trend upward started around 2001 actually with the 2001 recession.
And this is kind of the first time in post-WWII history in the U.S. where this
has happened this kind of far out after a recession has ended. Wages have either stagnated
or fallen, especially in the lower part of the income distribution, the lower half. And
so this has generated this real need and this need that’s persisted for many families
over time. The program’s been shown to be very effective in reducing what we call food
insecurity. It’s been shown as an effective anti-poverty program so it lifts about 5 to
6 million families over the poverty line each year.
Fifty to sixty thousand households are asked December of each year, an 18-item questionnaire
about the food security of their household. And today nearly 50 million Americans are
classified as food insecure, which means they answer yes to at least 3 out of those 18 questions.
Today in America we don’t have the hunger that President Kennedy was shocked by in 1960,
but we have this issue of food insecurity where people are struggling financially to
feed themselves and the people in their household and the food stamp program is there to help
alleviate some of that insecurity, but it’s not enough.
The reasons for food insecurity are actually pretty complicated. So it turns out that not
every poor person is food insecure. In fact about half of the poor population in the U.S.
do not classify themselves as food insecure. Even though they have lower incomes, they
have higher education. Education helps combat food insecurity and part of that is being
better at financial management, and also presumably better health knowledge in general. So there
are lots of factors that weigh into food security above and beyond income in this country, and
so it is a real policy challenge for our nation. And our center has been very active both in
conducting research on this issue as well as funding research from others through grants
from the USDA.
Food insecurity has been shown to be associated with a variety of physical and mental health
issues amongst children. If children are going hungry, that affects their ability to concentrate
in school. Their ability to concentrate in school affects their academic performance,
which affects both their interest in school, as well as potential long-term outcomes, both
health and income.
Some of the counties cancelled almost 30 days of school this past winter, creates a huge
challenge because it means the parent can’t go to work or grandparent whoever is taking
care of the child. Many of those children are dependent on school breakfast and lunch.
That means how are they getting fed on those days if they don’t get access? In fact,
only about two thirds of schools in the U.S. offer school breakfasts during the year, so
there are a lot of children that don’t even have access to the program even though they
may be in real need. About 85% to 90% of schools provide the school lunch program so kids do
have access to it. But we also see participation decline pretty quickly with age. So teens
are much less likely to participate in the school breakfast and lunch program. Even though
there is some suggestive evidence that they really need it, because their bodies are just
burning up so many calories, that that has an effect.
Text on screen: In 2014, all students in 27 of Fayette County’s Public Schools received
free breakfast and lunch as part of an expanded federal program.
All the kids in the 27 schools in Fayette County that were selected will be eligible
for the free breakfast and lunch. And the basic idea for that is an attempt to reach
kids who are likely eligible but choose not to participate, whether it’s because of
stigma, or something like that. Or they may not realize that they’re eligible for it,
or their parents may not realize they’re eligible, may not fill out paperwork. Hopefully
this will have a real positive effect on not only the academic performance on children
in their school but also ultimately their health. Both as a researcher, but also as
a taxpayer, I want to know whether or not this program is having a positive effect on
the children in the way that we think that it should.