Ending Hunger in America, 2014 Hunger Report Full Report | Page 135

CHAPTER 4
local level makes a difference. A 2013 study by
the Washington, DC-based Food Research and
Action Center (FRAC) found that from 2011 to
2012, Indiana had the country’s largest increase
in participation in the summer meals program,
moving from 34th in the nation to 20th.10 Indianapolis can’t take credit for improvements across
the entire state, but it accounts for over half of
the improvement in this metric.
Based on the difficulties communities face
in reaching kids through summer feeding sites,

USDA is now trying something different: a pilot
program that would increase SNAP benefits
during the summer months by $60 to families with
children who received free or reduced price meals
during the school year.11 Evaluations of the first
year of the pilot found that it cut child hunger by
20 percent.12 See Figure 4.3. This is one among several pilot programs around the country launched
because local leaders feed information back to federal policymakers about what’s working, what isn’t,
and what kind of solutions they could try.

CHAPTER 2

Because there are federal programs, private charities can focus on what they do best.
1. Filling the gaps—Private charities can serve people at risk of hunger whose income is too high to
take advantage of federal programs.
2. Rescuing food—We waste a lot of perfectly good food. Volunteers reclaim what would have been
wasted and distribute it through the appropriate channels.
3. Saying that it’s okay to ask for help—Neighbor-to-neighbor contact and concern for each other helps
to overcome the stigma associated with poverty.
4. Community engagement—Hands-on activities are critical as they allow the more fortunate to interact
with less fortunate members of the community and learn first-hand about their circumstances.
5. Rehabilitation and development—Churches and others use food assistance as a step in the process
of helping individuals and families in need deal with broader poverty-related issues.
The public/private system works well, but there are still too many hungry people in our communities,
especially children and seniors. Let me offer some suggestions that would make the system more effective
everywhere.
1. We need to measure unmet need, not just food insecurity, and that requires a measurement system
that will allow us to see where the various federal programs and volunteer efforts are falling short.
2. We need a nationally supported 211 system to help people at risk of hunger find the services that
are right for them.
3. We need to make healthier food more available: On the public side, for example, more funding to
improve the quality of school meals; and on the private side, classes that teach families how to eat
healthier on a budget.
4. We need an expansion of the Hunger Free Communities network, a nation-wide platform for sharing
best practices (www.hungerfreecommunities.org).
Looking at the problem systemically, I believe there is a strong case to be made that a public/private
partnership is essential if we are going to end hunger in the United States once and for all.
Dave Miner is the executive director of the Indy Hunger Network and a former chair of the Bread for the World
board. Find out more about the Indy Hunger Network at www.indyhunger.org.

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