Help fight Childhood Hunger in America

I recently had the opportunity to interview Sunny Anderson from Food Network here in Charlotte. She was in town for a pre-screening of the documentary “Hunger Hits Home” which will air this Saturday, April 14 at 8pm on Food Network. It is a documentary about childhood hunger here in the United States. One in every four children faces childhood hunger. Food Network has partnered with Share Our Strength to bring attention to this situation. Share Our Strength is one of the nation’s leading not-for-profit organizations, mobilizing individuals and industries to fight hunger.

Sunny Anderson decided to join the fight after watching clips from the documentary. She then requested to see the full documentary which features three families and their struggles with providing food and having access to fresh produce for their families. After watching the full documentary she told Food Network, “Whatever I can do, I am there.”

Sunny attended the free lunch breakfast at her school growing up so is well aware of some of the services provided to fight childhood hunger. She thought it was a treat but didn’t realize it was actually helping her family out. “We really need to take care of these children because we are trying to get them to go to school and learn and grow them into adults to compete with other nations and if they can’t get through school without thinking about eating they are unable to excel.” “I am one voice and one way to get the word out.” Her focus is to provide affordable simple recipes, real food for real people. “Gone are the days of eat your food because they are hungry kids in Africa, there are hungry kids right here.”

I also had the pleasure to interview Josh Wachs the Chief Strategy Officer of Share Our Strength. Wachs is responsible for developing and implementing the long-term strategy for Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry® Campaign, the organization’s national effort to end childhood hunger in America by 2015. He doesn’t believe childhood hunger exist because we lack food, we are a country of abundance. His focus is on educating parents where to find the resources and encourage them to participate.

North Carolina is a state with childhood hunger is prevalent. North Carolina Governor Perdue has joined in the No Child hunger campaign which was launched last September. “No kid hunger recipe which consist of access + education + awareness = No Kid Hungry.” The campaign not only wants to be sure the children are fed but they learn empowering skills about how to cook and shop for nutritious meals on a limited budget. We must create awareness.

Share Our Strength is the official non-profit Charity of the Food Network Their support is going to help create awareness by showing the documentary and has raised hundreds of dollars. After watching the documentary, you can get in touch with your local representatives. Let them know it is something you care about and see how you can help locally. Donate and volunteer at your local soup kitchens. “It’s not just about serving turkey and ham for Thanksgiving and Christmas, it’s a year round thing” – Sunny Anderson.

No child should go hungry!

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www.foodnetwork.com/hungry

‘Emma L. Merisier
SouthernCakeQueen

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Josh Wachs - Chief Strategy Officer