Are You Hungry?
The Linkage Between Food Insecurity and Learning
One of my friends and colleagues teaches 7th grade at an urban middle school. Her classroom is filled with the typical things you would expect, except for maybe two: a full-size refrigerator and a large pantry closet. You might suspect a mini-fridge to be found there, but not one that large. Why? Many of the children she teaches face food insecurity and hunger daily. The fact of the matter is that middle school students (or any student) have a tough time listening and concentrating on an academic subject when their stomachs are empty.
“To put that into perspective, if you are a teacher with 25 students in your classroom, approximately five live in food-insecure households and are likely hungry when they come to school. ”
It may seem a small issue to many, but the prevalence of food insecurity among students is staggering. According to the US Department of Agriculture, over 13 million children, nearly 20%, live in food insecure households (1). To put that into perspective, if you are a teacher with 25 students in your classroom, approximately five live in food-insecure households and are likely hungry when they come to school. Moreover, this malady affects these students’ ability to learn and thrive academically. “Educational achievement through the middle and secondary school years depends on students mastering basic skills and building on their knowledge over time. Food insecure children learn at a slower rate than their peers, and that fact coupled with their initial delay leaves them further and further behind as they progress through the educational system” (2).
“An empty stomach always triumphs over an empty mind.”
As educators, knowing our students and their academic needs is crucial. And yet, our students’ needs go well beyond academic. However, you might retort, “Isn’t our tasks as teachers imply to teach? Who are we to look for and take on the responsibility of feeding our students? These are valid questions to which I reply, “An empty stomach always triumphs over an empty mind.” If we are to reach our students, particularly the most vulnerable, we must be acutely aware of who they are not simply what they are.
They are young people, image bearers, made in the likeness of our Creator. They are young people who often desire to learn, but have barriers, externally driven, placed in their pathway of learning. As educators, it is our task to remove any and all barriers that we can, such as hunger. Recall the haunting words of Christ in Matthew 25:40, “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
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