Almost 25 percent of Missouri children live in households experiencing food insecurity, according to a study released Aug. 25 by Feeding America and the Missouri Food Bank Association.

This means an estimated 354,000 people under 18 are food-insecure, defined by the United States Department of Agriculture as a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.

The food insecurity rates for both children and overall population in Missouri are almost identical to the nation at large. In both, one in four children experience food insecurity, compared to one in six within the overall population.

Central Missouri Food Bank Communications Coordinator Rachel Ellersieck, said she and her coworkers were unsurprised at the childhood food insecurity data, which followed the overall population food insecurity data published six months ago.

“We’ve known for a long time that there are hungry children out there, so these figures allow us to illustrate to the public something we’ve known anecdotally,” Ellersieck said.

The Central Missouri Food Bank’s Buddy Pack program, which sends food home on the weekends with children who qualify for free and reduced lunch, was inspired by one little girl who didn’t want to go home over spring break.

“When the teacher asked her why, she said, ‘I don’t want to go home because it’s not safe, and there’s not enough to eat,’” Ellersieck said. “That was the start of the Buddy Pack program.”

Teachers are the eyes and ears for the Central Missouri Food Bank, said Ellersieck, who has heard their reports of students who arrive an hour early every Monday morning, eager for breakfast after a hungry weekend.

“You don’t realize there are kids out there looking forward to the school day because it means they get to eat,” Ellersieck said.

The Buddy Pack program began in five schools and three counties, but in five years, this has expanded to 126 schools throughout all 32 counties in the Central Missouri Food Bank area.

Twenty-nine of those 32 counties have childhood food insecurity rates higher than the national average of 23.2 percent, according to the study. Ellersieck attributes this to the geographical region covered by the Central Missouri Food Bank, in which only four of the counties, including Boone, contain a city.

“Hunger is not an urban problem,” Ellersieck said. “A larger community has more job opportunities, more transportation opportunities, more opportunities for inexpensive food products because there’s a more competitive market.”

Many of the counties served by the Central Missouri Food Bank have only one grocery store, if any. When factories in these regions lay off workers, many residents are forced to take far-away jobs and budget for car fuel, not food. There are usually fewer pantries and agencies in rural areas, as well, Ellersieck said.

Though Boone County’s childhood food insecurity rate is below the national average, it is still 21.8 percent, which is shocking, Ellersieck said.

At MU, food drives are held during Homecoming and Greek Week.

“This past spring, Greek Week collected over 27,000 pounds of food for the Central Missouri Food bank,” said Greek Life Coordinator Julie Drury in an email. “Also in regards to hunger, one Greek student started an event about two years ago where a chapter would essentially give up their meal for one night and donate all of the money to the Central Missouri Food Bank.”

Ellersieck said the study’s results could help nationwide food banks to garner public attention.

“It’s just important for people to realize that the problem of hunger is a lot closer than they think it is, but the help is here too,” she said.