NEW YORK -- A leading child nutrition program has joined forces with a major media platform to fight child hunger.

One-in-six children in New York is food insecure. That's more than 730,000 children.

But many parents can't access or aren't aware of school breakfast, after-school supper and summer meal programs that can help.

Rachel Sabella, director of No Kid Hungry New York, says working with Discovery and its lifestyle media outlets such as Food Network and HGTV will be a major boost to her organization's efforts to help end child hunger in the state.

"We're connecting kids and families to programs that exist so we can help make sure nobody struggles with hunger," she states. "This partnership with Discovery is going to help our work go further, faster. "

The Turn Up: Fight Hunger program hopes to provide the tools and resources to reach 1 billion meals for children nationwide in five years. More information is available at Turnup.org.

According to Alexa Verveer, senior vice president at Discovery, Inc., the vast outreach capability of Discovery's media platforms will give a big boost to efforts to spread information about available child nutrition programs.

"On any given night we reach 25% of women in the United States and we are confident that we can mobilize them and engage with them in a way that they are going to want to help kids access food throughout this country," Verveer says.

She notes that more than 22 million children get free or reduced-price lunches at school, but school breakfast programs are underutilized with only 12 million participating.

Sabella says children who struggle with hunger are more likely to be absent from school, have more trips to the school nurse and have more difficulty concentrating.

"We know that when kids grow up with the nutrition that they need to thrive, it's better for them, it helps to strengthen their communities and it helps to give us a stronger New York state," she stresses.

Sabella says the Turn Up: Fight Hunger website will help consumers fight food insecurity through activism, fundraising and advocacy.

Congressional efforts to avoid a government shutdown would extend funding for SNAP, the program formerly known as food stamps. And if the continuing resolution introduced in the U.S. House this week is passed, SNAP participants won't go hungry if they fall victim to electronic theft.

Carmen Mooradian, senior public policy manager with Hunger Free Colorado, said the resolution extends protections from practices - such as skimming data from EBT cards, which function like debit cards - through September of 2028.

"This is when a device is placed on a point-of-sale terminal, and it's used to take that account information, and to clone it into a new card, that is then used to drain that person's account," Mooradian said.

Electronic theft protections were set to expire this Friday. Nearly one in five families with children in Colorado have gone without food because they can't afford it, and advocates are urging lawmakers to improve emergency food assistance programs by removing barriers such as additional work requirements; getting more eligible people enrolled; allowing participants to make their own healthy food choices; and increasing benefit levels to keep up with rising costs.

The minimum SNAP benefit is currently $23 per month, and the average SNAP benefit is $6 a day. Mooradian said lessons learned during the COVID public-health emergency show what's possible when benefits are increased.

"It can actually protect against food insecurity. People have access to healthier foods, because they can afford healthier foods," Mooradian added. "So, we need to make sure that we are moving toward more adequate benefits. "

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-CO, has introduced a bill that would allow people with disabilities or working multiple jobs to use SNAP to buy hot prepared foods at grocery stores. Mooradian said it's also important for lawmakers to remove additional work and other requirements for the 40% of community college students experiencing hunger.

"There are a lot of restrictions on student eligibility right now that make it harder for students to access this program. When students aren't focusing on having to feed themselves, they are actually able to do better in school," Mooradian added.

Several federal programs may face budget cuts as the new administration proposes sweeping actions to reduce the federal debt.

Advocates for the safety-net programs in Tennessee said cuts would jeopardize food access, health insurance and essential services for tens of thousands of people.

Signe Anderson, senior director of nutrition advocacy at the Tennessee Justice Center, said key decisions early next year will significantly affect funding for Medicaid, as well as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. She pointed out on average, about 750,000 Tennesseans per month receive SNAP benefits.

"Tennesseans will have less access to health care and to food," Anderson projected. "Programs that are in place now that offer health care to Tennesseans will become more limited - and the same with the SNAP program, will become more limited."

The Tennessee Justice Center hosts a free webinar today at 11:30 a.m. to discuss how groups across the country are organizing responses to potential cuts and their impacts on communities. More than 1.4 million Tennesseans are enrolled in Medicaid.

Anderson noted another federal program providing summer meals to hundreds of thousands of Tennessee children will expire unless Gov. Bill Lee renews it by Jan. 1, which he has indicated he does not plan to do.

The Summer EBT program provides families with $40 a month during the summer, for extra help paying for food when kids are out of school.

"DHS reported to USDA that nearly 700,000 children participated this past summer," Anderson emphasized. "Tennessee has been very, very successful in rolling out the program, and we're one of the only southeast states last year that participated."

Anderson stressed advocates for maintaining Summer EBT have delivered more than 2,200 signatures on petitions to the governor's office. She added more than $78 million in Summer EBT benefits also boost the local economy through grocery store spending.


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Hunger doesn't retire, yet millions of older Americans struggling to afford food may not realize help is within reach.

Misconceptions and stigma often prevent eligible seniors from accessing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the nation's largest anti-hunger initiative.

However, with simplified application processes and renewed outreach efforts, advocates are working to break down these barriers and connect seniors with the support they need.

Norm Gold - a consultant with Feeding America and an AARP community ambassador - highlighted these challenges and the importance of outreach.

"If it's too much of a pain for them to do it, they don't," said Gold. "Most seniors don't want to have to deal with it, honestly, I'm one of them, I'll be 70, and that's just the way older people are. To make it easy, that's why they've got the simplified application. That's what's made it much easier for them. "

A free webinar tomorrow aims to clear up myths and misconceptions about SNAP benefits, and highlight how the program supports older adults struggling with food insecurity.

The event, titled "SNAP Food Benefit Myths, Rumors and Misconceptions," begins at 1:30 p.m. and is open to everyone who registers at events.aarp.org.

Brian Jacks is associate state director for community outreach at AARP Virginia. He emphasized the benefits of clearing out misconceptions to help encourage more seniors to apply.

"Number one, SNAP is not just for families with children," said Jacks. "Any adult of any age who meets the income requirements is eligible. Secondly, your participation in SNAP will not take the benefit from anyone else who needs it."

To encourage participation, AARP Virginia has worked with food banks and community ambassadors to conduct outreach through health fairs and festivals, distributing materials highlighting SNAP benefits.

People can call 211 to connect with local resources for direct assistance with accessing SNAP benefits.