Venezuelan American chef, author, and television personality Lorena Garcia is partnering with a national nonprofit group to let families in the United States know there are free meals available for kids and teenagers as more people face food insecurity and hunger amid high food prices.
The Latina chef has teamed up with No Kid Hungry, a nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C., which helps feed children and teenagers across the United States. Garcia said they are trying to raise awareness, particularly this summer, about the available meals to families. She added that parents and caregivers could find free summer meal sites in their neighborhoods.
According to an analysis by Feeding America, which focuses on equitable access to food, even before the current issues of steeper food prices and inflation, the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a loss of jobs or reduced hours for millions of Americans, leading to more families struggling to put food on the table.
Food insecurity increased for Latinos since COVID pandemic started
Food insecurity for Latinos increased by more than 19 percent in 2020, with Hispanics 2.5 times more likely to experience food insecurity than their white counterparts. According to the nonprofit group, Latino kids were more than twice as likely to live in food-insecure households than white children.
Additionally, census data showed that 1 in 6 Latinos live in poverty compared to 1 in 16 non-Latino whites. Parents and caregivers can find a free summer meal site by texting "COMIDA" or "FOOD" to 304-304 or by visiting the nonprofit group website's free meal finder. The free meals are provided to youths 18 and younger.
García said the organization makes at least 750,000 meals daily to feed teenagers and children during the summer months. Garcia, who joined rapper Big Freedia and actor and TV cooking personality Ayesha Curry as No Kid Hungry partners, told NBC News that the help is there, and they just need to make sure that people know that this program is out there.
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Summer marks hungriest time of the year for children
Summer marks the hungriest time of the year for kids since school is no longer in session, and they have less access to daily and reliable meals. The No Kid Hungry summer meals programs reach 16 percent of kids nationwide.
As families struggle with the issue of meals in the summer months, millions of American students could lose access to free and reduced-price meals after U.S. Congress failed to extend the federal Child Nutrition Waivers introduced during the COVID pandemic to expire after two years on June 30.
The Washington Post reported that the waivers served as a safety net for American families but were taken out of a package in March to fund the federal government, with top Republicans objecting to their inclusion.
