This summer, the Columbus Municipal School District and the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District will provide a combined 55,000 meals for poor children in their communities.
Both school districts are providing the meals as part of the US Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Program. Last year, the program provided 153 million meals to children in the U.S.
Both school districts qualified for the program, which targets high-poverty communities, based on the percentage of school children who qualify for free or reduced-cost school meals.
It is a reminder that while summer means a carefree break from the regimen of the school year for many children, for some, the summer holds some ominous challenges.
In Mississippi, which has the highest poverty rate in the nation, the summer food program often means the difference between having access to a basic level of nutrition and going hungry for tens of thousands of children.
Federal programs for the poor have fallen into disfavor among some people, who suggest that these “entitlements” only serve to create government dependence.
But only the most cold-hearted and indifferent would apply that theory to our nation’s hungry children. How much accountability does a little girl have for her condition? What can a little boy do to alter his circumstances?
They are innocent. They are vulnerable.
In a wealthy nation such as ours, a nation whose agricultural production helps feed the world, the idea that any American child should ever go hungry should be unthinkable.
The summer food program, for all the good it does, does not eliminate hunger among our children. Children get hungry on the weekends, too, and those meals are not provided on Saturdays and Sundays.
Both local programs end meal service before the new school year begins when students can again rely on the meals provided to them. Who does a hungry child turn to then?
Clearly, this is something that cannot be addressed by government programs alone. In our community, churches and charities have been trying to fill that gap, through meal services, food pantries and back-pack programs, which provide children with meals to take home for the weekend.
No one program can eliminate this need.
To view this issue in terms of political philosophy or economic theory is to turn our backs on hungry children.
We applaud every effort, be it government program or private initiative, that answers the call of a hungry child.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.