No student should have to choose between starving or learning, and thanks to Feeding San Diego they don’t have to. Feeding San Diego is a hunger relief organization that works with nonprofit organizations to help distribute food to families in need. For the past five years they have teamed up with Preuss to help students get the nutrition they need. The program for our students is run by Family Support Specialists, Mrs. De La Rosa Ms. Panagos. It happens every first and third Friday of the month. Students should absolutely take advantage of this opportunity because there are many benefits to eating healthy and going to school with a filled stomach.
Around sixty percent of students who are low income come to school hungry, according to “How Does Hunger Affect Learning,” written by the No Kid Hungry organization. Heading to school and trying to learn while hungry has very prominent negative effects, since extended hunger can lead to a harder time to orient thoughts and make logical choices. It can lead to being too hungry to even think about learning, according to the article “The Long-Term Effects of Hunger on a Child’s Future,” written by Amanda DeWitt. Hunger can snowball into a lot of problems later on in life, like eating disorders, mental stress, growth problems, and a decrease in physical and mental capabilities. There have also been many studies on the behavioral responses of children facing food insecurity. According to the National Library of Medicine, children usually have a hard time making friends, maintaining self control, and listening to instructions when hungry.
Food provision resources right now have become so much more needed after the government shutdown ending SNAP benefits on November 1st. According to y The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities over forty-one million people in the U.S. use SNAP benefits every month; that’s around twenty-two million households and around twelve percent of the U.S. population. These families will be greatly impacted by the government shutdown, which is why students should use every resource available to them to stay healthy mentally and physically.
Feeding San Diego aims to help students who are struggling, but Mrs De La Rosa stated any student can come at any time and get food. Feeding San Diego has been trying to help by providing healthy food in bags for students. Some students feel judged and hesitate to take food, but hunger is not something anybody has to be ashamed of.
“Everyone gets hungry and everyone has to eat,” said Mrs De La Rosa.
Programs like these are made to help students and not label them, so come stop at the gate and check out Feeding San Diego because hunger should not be an invisible issue anywhere.
