On the floor of the Minnesota House today, state representative Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, spoke about the formation of the House Child Hunger Caucus.
A press conference last week announcing a bipartisan commitment to ending child hunger gave Minnesota leaders of anti-hunger organizations a chance to sound off on proposed federal cuts to nutrition programs.
At the Pioneer Press, Christopher Magan reports in Child hunger in Minnesota? There’s a lot of it and lawmakers want solutions:
A bipartisan group of lawmakers say they are teaming up to fix what they call Minnesota’s most “solvable problem” — child hunger.
State Reps. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, and Rod Hamilton, R- Mountain Lake, announced Thursday they were forming a child hunger caucus to raise awareness and find new ways to feed hungry kids.
In addition to “backpack programs” like Sheridan, which send food home with students, there are local, state and federal efforts to feed students who cannot afford food. Minnesota spends about $25 million each year on school nutrition programs.
State leaders are working to expand the number of schools that offer breakfast at no cost to students. There also has been rapid growth of the state’s summer food program that provides meals to needy children when school is not in session.
Sounds like a kumbaya moment, but the first stakeholder, Colleen Moriarty, Executive Director of Hunger Solutions, set a different tone with her opening remarks:
WCCO/CBS Minnesota picked up on the anti-hunger groups' dismay in Minnesota Lawmakers Form Group To Curb Child Hunger:
Minnesota State lawmakers are forming a bipartisan Child Hunger Caucus at the Capitol.
The group says it will work with nonprofit and business partners to figure out how to ease the problem of childhood hunger in Minnesota.
Hunger advocates say they’re worried about deep cuts to the federal food stamp program.
Here's the clip from WCCO:
Child hunger is an issue across Minnesota, whether metro, suburban or rural.
Photo: A scene from the press conference, via Minnesota House Information.
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