Pastures of Plenty: Let’s Talk Childhood Hunger
How can a country that produces 4,000 calories per person per day (2010) with $5 trillion in revenue have children who go to bed hungry? While more and more Americans are using drugs to lose weight, a growing number of families and, therefore, children, don’t have enough food to sustain them in good health, educational success, and good jobs. As the Federal government turns away from pandemic-era income support and reduces food-related assistance for families, childhood hunger is on the rise.
Poverty is the root cause of hunger in this country. Food, clean water, housing, energy, healthcare — everything we need for basic survival and that parents provide for their children to create an environment for them to thrive — is getting more expensive. The Economic Policy Institute estimates the median monthly cost for a family of four in the U.S. at $1,375 for housing and $1,081 for food, or an annualized combined cost of $29,500. For a family of four in the continental US, the income level at the poverty line for 2025 is $32,150, which is the most recent official guideline from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that determines a family’s eligibility for various federal programs. These averages don’t tell the story of any individual family, but they show how close to the edge many of us are.
Policy ideas such as increased minimum wages and universal basic income get at the heart of the hunger and poverty issue in the United States — raising incomes to a level where families can afford basic necessities. Higher incomes are linked to better health outcomes, including increased birth weight, fewer nutritional deficits, and reduced risk of chronic illness. Poverty can cause endemic stress, leading to lasting physical and mental health issues. So often we fund poverty solutions in developing economies as a way to make our resources go farther, and they do, in countries where the cost of living is so much lower than in the US. The world becomes a better and safer place when living standards are raised around the world, but not at the expense of our own neighbors.
Kate Starr, Co-Founder & Chief Investment Officer
As of July 2025, the Big Bill implemented the largest cuts to the SNAP program in its history. The $186 billion in funding cuts, over ten years, will affect millions of low-income individuals and families. The burden of making up this shortfall will fall to the States.
One of the biggest pressures on American families making it difficult to put nutritious food on the table is the cost of housing. Investors can help capitalize the development of affordable housing by investing in municipal housing bonds issued by state and local governments, such as housing finance agencies (HFAs). You can purchase these bonds either individually or through a mutual fund or ETF, using a brokerage account. Look at a fund’s holdings to ensure that affordable housing is a significant part of its portfolio.
October is childhood hunger awareness month. Share our Strength is the leading advocacy and policy organization fighting hunger in the US. They make it easy to make a difference through donations or buying a cute “No Kid Hungry” spatula from William Sonoma!
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