A recent New York Times article highlights the continued issue of food insecurity in public schools across the United States – it’s not only prevalent, but growing.  As of 2013, 51% of public school students qualified for free and reduced lunch which is up from 38% in 2000. As with anything there are several contributing factors and caveats, but these numbers point to the fact that schools are diverse and student needs are changing.

On a more positive note, the article shares some solutions and examples of work being done to meet the needs of lower income students:

• Increase spending in government programs that fund lower-income schools
• Model public school programming on schools with high success rates
• Dinner and take-home food programs

The last example should sound familiar and also reaffirm that Backpack Buddies is a program providing food to children and families that need it.

For more information, you can read the article here.