Staff from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service Southwest regional office was pleased to join the national non-profit, Share Our Strength, in Albuquerque, for the launch of their No Kid Hungry campaign to end childhood hunger in New Mexico.
The No Kid Hungry campaign is a public-private partnership between a diverse coalition of non- profit groups, the Food and Nutrition Service, the state of New Mexico, Share our Strength and the New Mexico Collaboration to End Hunger. In New Mexico, only one-third of eligible children participate in the Summer Food Service Program and only a little over half of children who are eligible eat breakfast at school.
Through this incredible partnership, the campaign seeks to increase summer meals by 3 percent and breakfast participation by 15 percent in the first year of the initiative. The campaign’s core strategies include improving program access, strengthening community infrastructures to get healthy food to children, and teaching families to make healthy food choices even on limited food budgets. The Food and Nutrition Service in the Southwest Region helped launch two additional No Kid Hungry campaigns in Louisiana and Arkansas and we look forward to working together with our partners to make a difference in New Mexico.