Every day in America, 9 million children or more are food insecure. That means that every single day, a child may not have food to eat at home or has to worry about where their next meal will come from. 

Every day in America, on average, 1 in 8 children go hungry. Since the Covid pandemic, job losses, increase in housing costs and because of the increase in inflation and food costs, this issue has only been exacerbated. 

Sadly, many children fall through the cracks of the system and have parents who don't qualify for assistance and therefore, they don't qualify for free or reduced lunch. Yet those families are still unable to afford to pack a lunch or pay for one at school for their children.

Oftentimes, families struggling with making ends meet have to make tough choices between things like housing and a vehicle to get them to work and that can often mean having to eliminate things like meals. 

Did you know? In 2021, the federal poverty level was $26,500 for a family of four. Not only is that number far too low and hasn't seen a reasonable adjustment in years, even at double that number for a family of four, you are likely still barely making ends meet. 

No child in America should ever have to go hungry and no child in America should ever have to go to school and be unable to eat. 

We need to legislate and advocate for our children and families. We need to bring back the free school meal program. Whether this is done on a state-by-state basis with reallocating of funds or whether this is added to the budget at a federal level, food is a human right. 

Please sign this petition and please share with everyone you know!