An apple a day keeps the doctor away. It’s a timeless proverb that rings true today: a nutritious diet is fundamental to good health. Science now shows a sufficient, healthy diet is also critical for brain development, academic achievement, and more.

But poverty places this basic need out of reach for many. With the second highest rate of poverty in the nation, California is home to millions of food insecure families. This means for too many children, hunger is part of their daily life. And too many parents are forced to make unfathomable choices between paying bills and feeding their family.Despite great wealth in the Bay Area, there still exists great need around feeding our children. Roughly 1 in 6 Bay Area children, or 270,000 kids, do not have consistent access to the food necessary to live a healthy and active lifestyle.

And, unfortunately, those children who are food insecure do not start on a level playing field with their peers: they face health and developmental obstacles right from the start. Food insecurity in early childhood is associated with impaired brain development, more frequent hospitalizations, and other lifelong health issues. For school-aged children, food insecurity often results in lower academic achievement, missed school days, and attention and behavioral issues. As most parents and teachers know, hungry kids act out.

Linking poverty and obesity feels counterintuitive, but the reality is that eating healthy costs more. As one doctor put it: “You can fill up on 1200 calories of cookies or potato chips for $1, but you’ll only get 250 calories from carrots for that same $1. If you were hungry, what would you buy?” But higher costs of healthy food is just one factor in the obesity-poverty paradox. High levels of stress and barriers to physical activity (unsafe outdoor spaces), which are prevalent among those living in poverty, tighten the link. As a result, low-income teens in California are nearly twice as likely to be overweight or obese than their peers with higher household incomes and more likely to develop type 2 diabetes as a result. It turns out that obesity and diabetes are the next door neighbors of food insecurity and poverty.

Our Approach

Our aim is to support our Bay Area children’s academic achievement and long term health by ensuring a healthy, sufficient, delicious diet for all.

It is clear that there is no one solution. Ensuring access to healthy foods in schools or convenience markets will fall flat if kids are not interested in eating them or families don’t know how to prepare them. Teaching kids and families about nutrition and cooking will not alone enable them to put nutritious foods on the table. Just some of questions food insecure households struggle with include:

We are looking to support organizations and programs that take a holistic approach to childhood nutrition and solve for multiple barriers, either by themselves or in coordination with others. We have identified three key drivers to support children and families in consuming a healthy, sufficient diet:

Our Focus

We have identified two areas where we have the potential to reach children in the Bay Area and address the barriers that prevent them from enjoying a sufficient, healthy diet:

Students & Schools

With a majority of Bay Area schools offering breakfast, lunch and in some cases supper, much of children’s daily calories, on instructional days, can be provided by schools. While access to free meals is important for children in need, improving the quality of school food is also key. By working with school districts, local and state governments and other partners we can ensure school food is nutritious and provided in a setting that encourages healthy eating.

Family & Community

We can do more to reach beyond schools and support Bay Area families before children attend public school and during summers and holidays. By partnering with nonprofits and government services, we can support access to healthy, culturally appropriate food and nutrition education that teaches families how to prepare healthy food, often with limited budgets, time, and cooking facilities.

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RESOURCES

What will it take to nourish the Bay Area’s children so they thrive in school and beyond?

Our Approach

Our Focus