Hitting the road to stem summer hunger

Hawaiʻi historically has ranked toward the bottom of the country in terms of average daily participation in summer nutrition programs, according to the Food Research & Action Center, a national organization.

According to the most recent Summer Nutrition Status Report, Hawaiʻi dropped from 41st to 43rd place based on July 2018 data measuring the percentage of low-income students who are fed in the summer compared with the academic year.

The federal summer nutrition programs fund the meals at sites where at least 50 percent of the children in that geographic region are eligible for free or reduced lunch.

The state reached 1,763 kids in July 2018 through summer meals compared with 1,840 the year before, a 4.2 percent decrease.

“We didn’t lose the number of sites, it just means there were fewer kids accessing the program (last year),” said Nicole Woo, senior policy analyst at the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice. “Summer food is so different from school meals because it’s so decentralized.”

With the introduction of the ʻAina Pono food truck this year, Hawaiʻi’s numbers should bump up by the next FRAC report, she said.

“The west side is the most important area to concentrate on,” Woo said. “We just know there aren’t a lot of other sites out in that direction. The fact the DOE is taking this on, you can imagine, there is so much potential. The food truck is such a great start.”