Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Hunger Pangs
Restaurateur and chef Bryan Voltaggio testifies in support of statewide school breakfast program.
Posted by Andrew Zaleski on Tue, Feb 21, 2012 at 2:00 PM
School-age kids need breakfast. That's the message Bryan Voltaggio sent yesterday when he testified in Annapolis in front of the House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on education and economic development. Members of the Partnership to End Childhood Hunger in Maryland were also present.
Voltaggio, the chef and co-owner of VOLT Restaurant in Frederick, voiced his support for Maryland Meals for Achievement (MMFA), a school breakfast program that provides free breakfast for children in 228 high-need schools. A high-need school is any that participates in the federal School Breakfast Program and has at least 40 percent of its student enrollment approved for free or reduced-price meals.
MMFA grows proportionally with state-allotted funding; the more funding the program receives, the more schools can be enrolled in the program. During his testimony yesterday, Voltaggio said he was "pleased to see that Governor O'Malley included an additional $560,000 in funding for MMFA in his fiscal year 2013 budget," and urged state legislators to approve the funding increase. The additional $560,000 will result in roughly forty-five more schools becoming enrolled in the MMFA program.
According to a fall 2011 report from the Food Research and Action Center, school children "experiencing hunger have lower math scores and are more likely to repeat a grade," and "children who skip breakfast are less able to differentiate among visual images, show increased errors, and have slower memory recall." A poll conducted by the national nonprofit Share Our Strength, which is attempting to end childhood hunger by 2015 through its No Kid Hungry campaign, found that 65 percent of teachers in the U.S. "regularly see kids who come to school hungry because they aren't getting enough to eat at home."
"Simply stated, school nutrition programs provide vital assistance to children and families who may not be able to provide meals at home," said Voltaggio in his testimony. "As a father and as a chef, I feel a responsibility to do what I can to ensure that kids never have to worry where their next meal will come from."
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