Raquel Mims-Cole, a Jefferson County School District Department of Food Services staff member, dishes out several days of bagged lunches to a father for his children on Wednesday, March 3, 2021 in Fayette, Miss. As one of the nation's most food-insecure counties, students at school and those "virtually learning" at home are provided with free breakfast and lunches.
According to an October 2020 study by Feeding America, a non-profit and national network of food banks, more than half of all children in Jefferson County, Mississippi, are food insecure, making it the hungriest county in the country. Because of the high poverty rate, all 1,100 students enrolled in Jefferson County School District were eligible for free breakfast and lunch at school prior to the pandemic.
Educators have been working to increase the district's ranking by introducing a new curriculum, establishing a parent involvement program, and working one-on-one with students. For more than a year, they have been effective in the most important and basic way: traveling long distances on dirt roads to ensure that every child has food to eat every day.
Jefferson County, a population of about 7,000 people, has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country: 17 percent in January 2021, compared to a national average of about 6.3 percent. According to the state Department of Health, more than half of Jefferson County residents have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, with 30 percent completely vaccinated. That makes Jefferson by far the most vaccinated county in the state, thanks in large part to the work of the Jefferson Comprehensive Health Center, a clinic that offers treatment based on the patient's ability to pay.
Because of the pandemic, school districts around the country have had to come up with novel ways to get food to students. The public school district in Jackson, Mississippi's capital and a majority-Black city where all students qualify for free meals, developed pick-up points for students to get food while studying from home.
However, when Jefferson County began doing the same at the start of the pandemic, only about 75 percent of children were being fed, because certain households do not have cars or are unable to drive.
For most days, the district's buses depart the schools with bags and return clean. There are still homes where the bus stops and no one comes to collect the meal. Others have children who have only taken food a few times. Raquel Mims-Cole said as she gazed out the window at the home. 'However, you can't remember. All we can do is show up every day. We'll continue to come as long as they need us.'
How it relates to Econ: The government needs to find more ways to give back money to these groups, whether it is finding/giving more jobs to people, or giving more funding to schools.
Questions to consider:
What are some other solutions that can be implemented for all kids to get lunch?
In what ways can parents do more to provide for their children
9 comments:
It is heartbreaking to hear that school children are going starving amidst the pandemic. No child should have to go through what these students have to endure. Once again, this is demonstrative of the devastating effect this pandemic is having in and out of America’s already impoverished communities. Since I believe that it is an essential right that all children should be fed, I do believe that there should be some sort of governmental aid in this situation. Although it is already hard to allocate the funds amidst the current crisis, one plan that I could suggest is that providing money and resources for school lunches for districts consisting of large numbers of children in need could be included in Biden’s most recent infrastructure initiative he is planning to pass to rebuild America. On the community level however, parents could also aid by volunteering to help distribute food or provide food through donations. However, in these hard times it is understandable that not all parents have the time or money to do this. Thus, this is why I see it as more of a governmental responsibility.
It is a thought situation for so many families right now, and it is very sad to see. About 30 million kids eat school lunches, and for many, it is a vital source of their daily calorie intake. Simply, kids depend on school lunches, and it is important that such resources remain available. One solution to provide more school lunches is Todd the government to give school cafeterias better budgets. Currently, the school budget for school lunches is 3 dollars per meal. This leads most school lunches to lack nutrients and consist of low quality ingredients. With all the money the government has for special interests, they should be able to afford better care for our future generation. In terms of what parents can do for their children, they could learn how to cook nutritious food at home cheaply. Their is a strong correlation between quality/ access to food and children’s performances in school. All in all, it is a very heartbreaking story, and hopefully with the pandemic coming to an end, life will return more to normal and the country as a whole will be better offf.
This is truly a heartbreaking situation to read about, and I cannot imagine living through it. I wonder if the government could have people drive to students' houses to deliver the food (so that parents don't have to skip work or figure out how to pick up food from the designated pick-up points daily) - this could also create new jobs, possibly? Adding onto what Michael said, the budget for school lunches (especially for elementary and middle schoolers) should be increased, not only to make them more accessible, but also healthy/nutritious. A major issue with American lunches is that they are extremely carb/starch filled -- with a different budget, the cafeterias could work on serving more protein-packed foods (and there are inexpensive protein options, like eggs, chicken, beans/lentils, etc).
It’s very heartbreaking that this is reality for a lot of parents and their children, seeing that school could be one of the main resources in which kids get their food, and once they go home food isn’t as accessible. I agree with Varsha, there should be some sort of governmental aid to provide for kids, that allows food to be delivered to the actual house so that there isn’t any difficulty in picking up the actual food from the bus stops. And along with the point that American lunches should have more nutritious and healthier factors implemented, since that could be one of the main food sources that children have, and their lunches need to be nutritious in order to aid in health/growth.
The government should definitely be helping these families with food insecurity and hunger. Making sure that children have food to eat should be a high priority and the government could take more action to confirm that the students who don't receive the school-issued food are satiated. This could look like calling the parents of students and making sure they know about the service, setting up other times and places to distribute food to the special group of families. However, this could take a significant amount more effort, time, and money. Despite the downcast facts that were stated above, it is encouraging to see that this area has a high level of vaccinations, as that supports the idea that the government has not forgotten about smaller, poorer towns. However, one thing I do not understand about what is stated is that the author wrote that the reason so many vaccinations have occurred is because of the "Jefferson Comprehensive Health Center, a clinic that offers treatment based on the patient's ability to pay." Wouldn't that mean there would be less medical treatment and vaccinations going around because the population doesn't have much money to spare?
The government needs to figure out someway to deliver the food to kids. The government is already saving so much money by not giving kids the best food possible maybe use that money to make sure that kids get something in their stomach throughout the day. Another thing is the community or school district could get volunteers to cook and deliver the food to the kids, this could be highschool students trying to better the environment or if adults need another source of pay they can get paid for this. The parents in this case are doing as much as possible to make sure their kids get the basic necessities and since the consequence of that is them not having time I don't think this is their fault in any way.
In one way, this is wholesome in the sense that there are people thinking about these families who are in need. However, in a more tragic sense, this really displays the situation that a good portion of our country is facing right now. Some of the kids in our family can't even eat. I believe in equal opportunity strongly, and when a kid cannot eat, they could become underdeveloped. I couldn't imagine trying to study while I am hungry - I wouldn't be able to be focused. To think that these kids not only need to struggle with the difficulties of the transition to online learning but also have to do so on an empty stomach is saddening. I wholeheartedly agree something needs to be done about it. One solution I thought of would both aid in the food issue and with unemployment. The government can hire parents with cars (but who have lost their jobs due to COVID) to drive around the streets with lunches made at the school. The parents would make money to support their own families and kids who are in need of a meal would have access to food. Another issue is where the money would come from. After looking at Ian's post regarding reducing military involvement, I think that some of that money could come from the military budget. To be honest, even if I don't know how the military's budget is allocated, the amounts we spend every year are crazy. Spending a little in a poorer neighborhood can really go a long way.
It saddens me to see how families, and especially kids, are struggling to procure enough food. The pandemic has not been forgiving for communities in poverty, and many families and children depended on school meals daily. However, I do believe the government and individuals are trying to initiate change to help people out. In California, state senator Nancy Skinner introduced a bill that make school meals free and shift schools to buy more fresh, local options. Places like New York, Boston, and Chicago have already implemented such policies, and if other places could follow suit, it would be largely beneficial. According to an article by The Counter,"in New York City, where lawmakers made meals free for all in 2017, the policy has been linked to higher test scores equivalent to six to 10 weeks of learning." I think universal school lunch is something that should be prioritized, so that families may feel less of a financial burden when it comes to something as basic as food.
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