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Over 300,000 children in Indiana struggling with hunger

(Photo supplied/Feeding Indiana)

More than 300,000 children in Indiana don’t know where their next meal is coming from.

Feeding America’s 2017 Map the Meal Gap report is out, and it looks at the hunger rate in every county across the country. The report analyzes factors such as food price variations, food budget shortfalls, poverty and unemployment.

It says overall, 1 in 7 Indiana residents is “food insecure.”

Emily Weikert Bryant, executive director of Feeding Indiana’s Hungry, says the hunger rate for children is even higher – at 20 percent or more – in 38 counties in the state.

“You’ve got counties that are as high as almost 24 percent in Fayette, and nearly that high in Switzerland and Wayne as well,” she states. “And so, you’re talking about really closer to 1 in 4 children who are at risk of hunger. So they don’t know where that next meal is coming from.”

Weikert Bryant says about 7 in 10 Hoosier children are eligible for some sort of nutrition assistance program, but that leaves about 30 percent whose families make too much to qualify. In some cases, she says, the only places they have to turn for help are charitable organizations that distribute free food.

The report also finds shortfalls are growing in many families’ food budgets. Weikert Bryant says that means there isn’t enough to stretch from paycheck to paycheck.

“The numbers are remaining fairly steady, but the folks that are food insecure are having a much harder time,” she states. “That hole they have to dig out of is deeper than it used to be.”

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3 comments

Some peolpe are just stupid! May 9, 2017 at 10:03 am

Interesting that it is the “children” struggling with hunger and no mention of their parents. Are these 2 things separate? I don’t think so…Anyone want to bet that the parents eat well and have cell phones to play with. This is not a problem for the government to solve not that they could anyway. This is a parenting issue. If these parents don’t feed their children wouldn’t that be a social services issue? If a child “doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from” that would be neglect of a dependent on the parents part. After all, the parent is where the next meal should always come from.

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Too stupid to measure May 9, 2017 at 1:43 pm

Yeah, cell phones…multiple, cable TV, EBT card, multiple cars with ‘bling’ wheels, and all still over the recommended body fat content. No starving going on here, plenty of fraud though.

Reply
Too stupid to measure May 9, 2017 at 1:45 pm

And let’s not forget tats, weird hair colors, multiple piercings and ring things stuffed in various holes…obviously none of that is costing us or impacting their ability to feed their offspring.

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