GROVE CITY, OH. – Only ten percent of Ohio children who receive nutrition assistance during the school year take advantage of programs aimed at addressing childhood hunger during the summer months. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)—a leading voice in the U.S. Congress for eradicating hunger and improving childhood nutrition—spoke today during a statewide forum he convened at the Mid-Ohio Foodbank aimed at addressing the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). Brown convened today to summit to ensure more children can receive nutrition assistance during the summer months.

“When children go hungry during the summer months, their health and education suffers,” Brown said. “The school lunch program provides critical nutrition to needy children during the school year. While more than 700,000 Ohio children are eligible to receive free or reduced priced meals at their school, only 1 out of 10 of these children receive this assistance during the summer months,” Brown said. “That is simply unacceptable and dedication and advocacy of these talented volunteers who attended today’s summit are working to reverse this pattern.”

“With the help of these Ohioans, last year, the Senate passed the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act, which makes the programs and resources available to our children better and more effective. This bill will improve the quality of food in the National School Lunch Program and make sure that the children who need help the most are actually getting it. These are great first steps but more needs to be done. And that’s why summits like today’s are so important.”

 

The SFSP provides free, nutritious meals and snacks to help children in low-income areas get the nutrition they need throughout the summer months when they are out of school. SFSP is administered by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) and is run locally by approved sponsors: including school districts, local government agencies, camps, or private nonprofit organizations. Last summer, there were nearly 1,500 sites serving Ohio children. Organizations that are interested in sponsoring a SFSP site, visit the ODE Web site by clicking HERE.  

Brown was joined at the 2011 Summer Food Service Program Summit by Kevin Concannon, USDA Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services and Matt Habash, Mid-Ohio Foodbank President & CEO.

Brown discussed efforts to ensure that the end of the school year doesn’t mean that Ohio children will go hungry during the summer break. As Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Hunger, Nutrition, and Family Farms, he wrote the Hunger-Free Schools Act, which would help reduce paperwork and enroll already eligible students in childhood nutrition programs through direct certification. Brown’s bill was the centerpiece of the anti-hunger component of the bill passed by the House and the Senate.

During Agriculture Committee consideration of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, Brown successfully passed two bipartisan amendments to the legislation. One of those amendments, a bipartisan piece of legislation offered with Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), ensures greater access to summer feeding programs for children. Another amendment, offered with Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), authorizes a pilot program to provide affordable organic choices in school feeding programs. This program is a crucial first step in proving the viability and value of organic foods in the over 30 million school lunches served each day.

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