Thousands of kids go hungry in Boulder County
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About 1 in 10 children in Boulder County (10.3%) live in food-insecure households, per new estimates shared first with Axios from Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks.
- Statewide, about 14.3%, or 172,540 children, are food insecure.
Why it matters: Potential cuts or changes to federal food aid programs like SNAP and tariffs on imported foods could affect millions of Americans and exacerbate the childhood hunger crisis.
Zoom in: Both the Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley school districts have opted in to Colorado's Healthy School Meals For All, a program approved by voters in 2022 that provides free school meals for all students regardless of family income.
- Yes, but: That program faces cuts unless voters approve additional funding.
- In Boulder, Emergency Family Assistance Association, which provides a food bank among other services, also faces funding shortages.
Zoom out: Over 40% of children in some U.S. counties live in food-insecure households, per Feeding America.
- The rate tends to be higher in relatively poor, rural counties — but there are urban areas with high rates as well, like New York's Bronx County (33.1%).
How it works: Map the Meal Gap is an annual effort to make local estimates about food insecurity among different groups, in part by using government data.
- The childhood food insecurity rate represents the share of children who live in food-insecure households, which lack or have uncertain access to adequate food. See more about the methodology here.
The big picture: Childhood food insecurity is one piece of a broader hunger problem exacerbated by rising food costs.
- The annual aggregate national food budget shortfall — the total amount of money people in food-insecure U.S. households need to buy enough food — rose from $28.5 billion in 2022 to $32.2 billion in 2023, up 8.4% inflation-adjusted.
What's next: With the end of the academic year, the perennial threat of "summer hunger" will once again be an issue for kids who rely on school meals to get enough to eat.