How can the seeds of activism around issues of poverty and hunger be planted early in life?

How are college students helping combat the hunger problem in the Massachusetts?

Programs
("CFN contact" indicates people who have already been contacted by CFN and have agreed to speak with the press.)

Grow Clinic for Children
(CFN contact) Dr. Deborah Frank, Director
Boston Medical Center
818 Harrison Avenue-FGH-3
Boston, MA 02118 (617) 414-5251

Kids Can Make a Difference (KIDS)
(CFN contact) Larry Levine/Jane Finn Levine, Ed.D.
P.O. Box 54
Kittery Point, ME 03905
(207) 439-9588
Fax: (207) 439-4917
Email: Web Site: http://www.kids.maine.org

Food Rescue
(CFN contact) Director: Ilana Sausen
Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS)
13 Sawyer Avenue
Tufts University
Medford, MA 02155
(617) 627-1170
Email: isausen@emerald.tufts.edu

The Greater Boston Food Bank
99 Atkinson Street
Boston, MA 02118
(617) 427-5200
Fax: (617) 427-0146
http://www.gbfb.org

The Hunger Project Global Office
15 East 26th Street
New York, NY, 00016
(212)251-9100
Fax: (212) 532-9785
Email: info@thp.org
http://www.thp.org/home/home.htm

WHY (World Hunger Year)
505 Eighth Avenue
21st Floor
New York, NY 10018-6582
(212) 629-8850
(800)5-HUNGRY
Fax: (212) 465-9274
Email: WHYRIA@aol.com
Web Site: http://www.iglou.com/why

Story Contacts
(The following is a list of people who have already been contacted by CFN and have agreed to speak with the press.)
Dr. Deborah Frank Director
Grow Clinic Child Development Clinic c/o Gina DiGravio
Boston Medical Center
818 Harrison Avenue-FGH-3
Boston, MA 02118
(617) 638-8491

Superintendent Reginald Barnes
West Tallahatchie School District
P.O. Box 129
Webb, MS 38966
(601) 375-9291
Participant in the Free and Reduced Lunch Program

Ken Hecht Directo
California Food Policy Advocates
116 Montgomery Street, Suite 530
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 777-4422 ext. 102

Larry Levine/Jane Finn Levine, Ed.D.
KIDS P.O. Box 54
Kittery Point, ME 03905
(207) 439-9588
Founders and Directors, KIDS

Erin Callahan
WHY (World Hunger Year)
505 Eighth Avenue, 21st Floor
New York, NY 10018-6582
(212) 629-8850
(800)5-HUNGRY
Fax: (212) 465-9274
Email: WHYRIA@aol.com
Web Site: http://worldhungeryear.org
Nonprofit organization challenging hunger and poverty

Jane Darby
The Caedmon School
416 E. 80th Street
New York, NY 10021
(212) 879-2296
Teacher and participant in KIDS program

Ilana Sausen Director
Food Rescue
111 Wren Hall
Tufts University
Medford, MA 02155 (617) 627-1170
Email: isausen@emerald.tufts.edu
Relevant area: Community action against hunger.

Mara Quinn-Porzig
Tufts University Student
F474 Latin Way Tufts
University Medford, MA 02155
(617) 627-1198
Email: mquinnpo@emerald.tufts.edu
Relevant area: Volunteer, Food Rescue

Erin Cox Director, Leonard Carmichael Society
Leonard Carmichael Society c/o Mayer Campus Center
Tufts University Medford, MA 02155
(617) 627-9406
Email: ecox@emerald.tufts.edu
Relevant area: Voluntary service towards a responsible world.

Expert Contacts
(The following is a list of people who have already been contacted by CFN and have agreed to speak with the press.)

Dr. J. Larry Brown Director
Center on Hunger, Poverty and Nutrition
Tufts University
11 Curtis Avenue
Medford, MA 02155
(617) 627-3956
Relevant area: Nutritional effects on children

Dr. David Levitsky, PhD
Cornell University
112 Savage Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-6301
(607) 255-3263
Relevant area: Nutritional development and weight regulation

Dr. Deborah Frank
Child Development Clinic
Boston Medical Center
818 Harrison Avenue-FGH-3
Boston, MA 02118
Relevant area: Child development and social policy

Dr. Ava L. McCall
University of Wisconsin
Oshkosh Curriculum and Instruction
800 Algoma Boulevard
Oshkosh, WI 54901
(920) 424-3155
Relevant area: Teaches social studies methods for elementary education majors and supervises clinical students at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

Ruth Sidel
Professor of Sociology
Hunter College
695 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10021
(212) 772-4000
Relevant area: Poverty in America

Alison McGuire
The Greater Boston Food Bank, Inc.
99 Atkinson Street
Boston, MA 02118
Phone: (617) 427-5200
Fax: (617) 427-0146
Relevant area: New England Hunger Relief Program

Research and Statistics

Hunger and Poverty A 1997 USDA study released found that 34.7 million people in the U.S. are threatened by hunger and 12 million American households report limited or certain access to food. (United States Department of Agriculture, 14th & Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC, 20250. (202) 720-2791. http://www.usda.gov).

USDA study found that the United States wastes more than 96 billion pounds of food each year. If one-third of this were to be rescued and distributed in America, there would be enough to feed 450,000 people a day for a year. (United States Department of Agriculture, 14th & Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC, 20250. (202) 720-2791. http://www.usda.gov).

Poverty is the main cause of hunger. Poor people often lack access to land to grow food or inadequate income to buy food. Nearly one in four people, 1.3 billion - a majority of humanity - live on less that $1 per day, while the world's 358 billionaires have assets exceeding the combined annual incomes of countries with 45 percent of the world's people. (KIDS Can Make a Difference, Hunger Facts. P.O. Box 54, Kittery Point, ME 03905 (207) 439-9588. http://www.kids.maine.org).

According to a Greater Boston Food Bank study, hunger effects other areas of people's lives too: 32% of households had to choose between paying their rent or mortgage and buying food at least once in the past 12 months. (Hunger, 1997: The Facts & Faces. The Greater Boston Food Bank. Online. ( http://www.gbfb.org/ma_hunger_facts.htm).

Fewer donations of food and more people requesting hunger relief has forced 45 percent of programs in Massachusetts to stretch food supplies in the past year. (Second Harvest. The Greater Boston Food Bank, 99 Atkinson Street, Boston, MA 02118, (617) 427-5200, http://www.gbfb.org/us_hunger_facts.htm)

One in twelve people worldwide is malnourished, including 160 million children under the age of 5. (KIDS Can Make a Difference, Hunger Facts. P.O. Box 54, Kittery Point, ME 03905. (207) 439-9588. http://www.kids.maine.org).

Twenty million Americans rely on food pantries or soup kitchen every month. (Second Harvest. The Greater Boston Food Bank, 99 Atkinson Street, Boston, MA 02118, (617) 427-5200, http://www.gbfb.org/us_hunger_facts.htm)

Children and Hunger/Poverty An estimated 174 million under-five children in the developing world are malnourished as indicated by low weight for age, and 230 million are stunted. ("Child Malnutrition." WHO Information. Fact Sheet No. 119. Avenue Appia 20, 1211 Geneva 27. Switzerland http://www.who.int)

National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University study revealed that the poverty rate for children under six in the United States is the highest poverty rate ever reported. The NCCP study indicated that a staggering six million children under six live in poverty, an increase of one million children from 1987 to 1992. (National Center for Children in Poverty. School of Public Health. Columbia University, 154 Haven Avenue, New York, NY. 10032. (212) 304-7100. http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/nccp/)

A child who suffers infantile malnutrition and then receives enough nourishment in later years will still most likely suffer from impaired behavioral and cognitive functioning. Other disabilities involve motor-skill development, and reading and writing deficiencies. (O'Brien, J.C. (1991) Infantile malnutrition. Boston University Medicine 17-19.)

Failure to Thrive refers to inadequate weight gain, based on the standard growth charts of the National Centers for Health Statistics. (Frank, D. A., Silva, M., and Needleman, R. (1993). Failure to Thrive: Mystery, myth, and method. Contemporary Pediatrics 114-133).

Child poverty is spreading fastest in the suburbs. Still, urban kids are more likely to be poor--- 40% in some cities. (National Center for Children in Poverty. School of Public Health. Columbia University, 154 Haven Avenue, New York, NY. 10032. (212) 304-7100. http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/nccp/)

Recent scientific evidence from Columbia University-based National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) indicates that life in near poverty is almost as detrimental to children's health and development as living just below the poverty line and that extreme poverty early in life is especially deleterious to children's future life chances. (National Center for Children in Poverty. School of Public Health. Columbia University, 154 Haven Avenue, New York, NY. 10032. (212) 304-7100. http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/nccp/)

Research done by the Greater Boston Food Bank indicates that even mild under-nutrition experienced by children during critical periods of growth may lead to significant reduction in cognitive development and physical growth. (The Greater Boston Food Bank, 99 Atkinson Street, Boston, MA 02118, (617) 427-5200, http://www.gbfb.org/us_hunger_facts.htm)

One in twelve people worldwide is malnourished, including 160 million children under the age of 5. (KIDS Can Make a Difference, Hunger Facts. P.O. Box 54, Kittery Point, ME 03905. (207) 439-9588. http://www.kids.maine.org).

Young children in the United States have about a 50-50 chance of escaping the risks of poverty or near poverty. (KIDS Can Make a Difference, Hunger Facts. P.O. Box 54, Kittery Point, ME 03905. (207) 439-9588. http://www.kids.maine.org).

A child living in a wealthy U.S. family is on average, better off financially than the typical wealthy child in any other country. At the same time, the average child in a low-income U.S. family is worse off than the average poor child in 15 other industrialized countries. (KIDS Can Make a Difference, Hunger Facts. P.O. Box 54, Kittery Point, ME 03905. (207) 439-9588. http://www.kids.maine.org ).

The USDA's annual report, Expenditures on Children by Families, shows that on the average it costs almost six times as much to raise an infant born in 1997 to age 17, than it did to raise a child born in 1960. The report accounts that overall, the primary expense in childrearing is housing; the second highest expense is food. (United States Department of Agriculture, 14th & Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC, 20250. (202) 720-2791. http://www.usda.gov).

More than 30% of people served by The GBFB are children. Thirty percent of food programs associated with The Food Bank reported that the number of children they feed increases in the summer when children are not receiving breakfast and lunch at school. (The Greater Boston Food Bank, 99 Atkinson Street, Boston, MA 02118, (617) 427-5200, http://www.gbfb.org/us_hunger_facts.htm)

Nutrition Programs According to doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital, breakfast does affect students' grade performance. In a study of more than 100 third to eighth graders, those who were given the chance to eat a free breakfast at school for more than four months experienced a greater increase in their math grades. (USNEWS Online, http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/981109).

While specific activities may vary, most programs that address childhood malnutrition include some conventional activities such as the protection and promotion of breast-feeding, appropriate complementary feeding, nutrition education for behavioral change, nutritional support of the sick child and health referral. What often distinguishes successful programs is that communities are involved in identifying the problems and mobilizing action and resources for solving them. (U.S. NEWS Online, http://www.who.int/inf-fs/en/fact119.html).

A US News study shows that 75% of kids who skip breakfast never catch up on daily requirements for calcium, and a third fall short on protein. U.S. NEWS Online ( http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/981109/9brea.htm).

The December 1997 "State of the World's Children" report showed that lack of access to adequate amounts of vitamins, minerals, and food significantly negatively impacts child development. ( "State of the World's Children" Report, 1997 UNICEF. www.unicef.org).

In a 1995 survey conducted by the Gallup Organization more children reported getting their information about food and nutrition from schools and teachers (90%) than from any other source-even their parents. The survey concluded that food and nutrition messages that reach children in schools are therefore of utmost importance in shaping children's eating behavior. (Gallup Organization. (1995). Food, physical activity and fun: What kids think (a survey prepared for The American Dietetic Association, International Food Information Council, & President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.)

More than 30% of people served by The GBFB are children. Thirty percent of food programs associated with The Food Bank reported that the number of children they feed increases in the summer when children are not receiving breakfast and lunch at school. (The Greater Boston Food Bank, 99 Atkinson Street, Boston, MA 02118, (617) 427-5200, http://www.gbfb.org/us_hunger_facts.htm)

References

"Child Malnutrition." WHO Information. Fact Sheet No. 119. Avenue Appia 20, 1211 Geneva 27. Switzerland http://www.who.int

Gallup Organization. (1995). Food, physical activity and fun: What kids think (a survey prepared for The American Dietetic Association, International Food Information Council, & President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports)

Hunger, 1997: The Facts & Faces. The Greater Boston Food Bank. Online. (http://www.gbfb.org/ma_hunger_facts.htm).

KIDS Can Make a Difference, Hunger Facts. P.O. Box 54, Kittery Point, ME 03905 (207) 439-9588. http://www.kids.maine.org

National Center for Children in Poverty. School of Public Health. Columbia University, 154 Haven Avenue, New York, NY. 10032. (212) 304-7100. http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/nccp/

O'Brien, J.C. (1991) Infantile malnutrition. Boston University Medicine 17-19.)

Second Harvest. The Greater Boston Food Bank, 99 Atkinson Street, Boston, MA 02118, (617) 427-5200, http://gbfb.org.

"State of the World's Children" Report, 1997 UNICEF. www.unicef.org

United States Department of Agriculture, 14th & Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC, 20250. (202) 720-2791. http://www.usda.gov

Related Coverage Cosentino, Barbara W. (November 17, 1998.) "Hunger Helpers." RESIDENT.

Edelman, Marian Wright. "A Child Shall Lead Us." Why Magazine. Spring, 1998. World Hunger Year Inc. (WHY). 505 Eighth Avenue, 21st Floor. New York, N.Y. 10018-6582. (212) 629-8850 / (800) 5-HUNGRY. EMail: whyear@aol.com. http://www.worldhungeryear.com.

Frank, D. A., Silva, M., and Needleman, R. (1993). Failure to Thrive: Mystery, myth, and method. Contemporary Pediatrics 114-133

Gabriele, Susan. "A Suggestion for using quantities of day-old food." The New York Times, Westchester Weekly Desk. Section 14WC, Page 9, Column I. (11 April 1999). (http:///web.lexis-nexis.com). Day-old deli, produce and groceries can be distributed to families in a community meeting place.

Hacker, David, Community Nutrition Coordinator, Hunger Action Coalition. "Food for Thought---Too Many Hungry Children." JumpStart Michigan. October 1997. http://www.jumpstartmich.com. Discusses issues of food stamps and the celebration of the National School Lunch Program.

Maren, Michael. "The Faces of Famine." Newsweek. Online. 27 July 1998. http://www.newsweek.wp.com/nw-srv/issue/04_98b.

McNally, Thomas S. "Seven million children die of malnutrition each year, according to UNICEF report." United Method News Service. 18 Dec. 1997. http://www.umc.org/umns/news97. Church's task force guides initiative on children and poverty.

Melton, Marissa. "Cereal+milk=better math grades." U.S. News Online. 9 Nov. 1998. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/98110. Science proves breakfast makes you smarter.

Mozingo, Anne M. (1998, January 11). "Kittery Point pair try to end hunger." New Hampshire Portsmouth Herald Sunday. Section B, p. 1.

Saltus, Richard. "Bad diets hamper the poor." The Boston Globe. May 3, 1995. Underfeeding can cause learning, thinking and behavioral problems.

What to do about famine. Newsweek, Interview. (1998, November 2). Newsweek. Online. ( http://www.newsweek.washingtonpost.com/nw-srv/issue17_98b).

"Where you live: Miles for meals event coming." The Atlanta Constitution. Staff. Page 4B. (9 April 1999). ( http://web.lexis-nexis.com). Henry County Council on Aging, Miles for Meals Event raises money for the council's programs combating hunger.

Whitman, David. "Revisiting American family life." U.S. News Online. 1 Feb. 1999. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/990201. Study suggests parents are influencing their children in positive ways, resulting in stronger family life.