In communities across the country, our nation’s

children are experiencing a hunger crisis. Thirteen

million children live in homes that are considered

“food insecure,” meaning there isn’t reliable,

consistent access to enough food for everyone.

Hunger has become especially acute in many of

our rural areas, where local economies are in

decline, “diseases of despair” are on the rise, and

local infrastructure is stretched increasingly thin.

On March 21-22, No Kid Hungry hosted its fi rst-

ever Rural Child Hunger Summit in Louisville,

Kentucky. The convening brought together more

than 220 leaders from 41 states and encompassed

food banks, state agencies, public policy

organizations and nonprofi ts, as well as

economists, professors, the Kentucky Commissioner

of Agriculture and a senior advisor from the White

House O� ce of National Drug Control Policy. Over

the course of two days, the group focused on the

latest research, policy solutions, and emerging

innovations designed to uncover promising

practices in the fi ght against rural child hunger.

2019 Rural Child Hunger Summit

By The Numbers*

2.4Mrural households

struggle with hunger.

of counties in the United States

with the highest rates of child food

insecurity are in rural areas.

of rural children in the United States

are poor, compared to 18 percent of

children in urban areas.

23% 86%

*Sources: United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, “Rural Poverty and Well-Being,” 2018. Feeding America,

“Hunger in Rural America,” 2017.

“Rural America” means many di� erent things. Rural America is extremely diverse. The summit reinforced the importance of working closely with local communities and designing solutions customized by place, recognizing that one size will not fi t all.

Challenges in rural America are deeply interconnected. Rural child hunger is deeply intertwined with other social determinants, including fi nancial insecurity, addiction, racial inequity and inadequate infrastructure. Understanding these connections is critical to crafting a response that meets the needs of children in rural areas.

Shame and stigma are barriers. Partners from around the nation repeatedly noted that shame and stigma are two of the biggest barriers standing between families and nutrition programs in rural America.

We need more research. There is a signifi cant research gap in the ways poverty and hunger in rural communities di� er from poverty and hunger in more urban and suburban areas.

The answer is community. Just as the challenges are interconnected, so are the solutions. Throughout the week, participants shared stories of innovation, hope and progress. “I can’t wait to get home to try that!” became a common refrain as people built a sense of community and enthusiasm around positive e� orts happening throughout the country.

This summit was the beginning of No Kid Hungry’s emerging e� orts to address rural childhood hunger including:

• A new qualitative research project underway from No Kid Hungry and Feeding America to explore the experiences of families in rural areas as they work to put food on the table for their children;

• A new report summarizing the fi ndings of original research into rural food insecurity conducted specifi cally for this summit;

• Videos and stories captured by No Kid Hungry to raise awareness of rural challenges and innovations;

• And new reports focused on summit fi ndings and analysis to unify our goals and create strategies to alleviate childhood hunger in rural communities in the coming years.

If you’re interested in learning more about the summit, its outcomes or rural child hunger generally, please contact the No Kid

Hungry Center for Best Practices directly at bestpractices@strength.org

No child should go hungry in America. But 1 in 6 kids will face hunger this year. No Kid Hungry is ending childhood hunger through e� ective programs that provide kids with the food they need. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization working to end hunger and poverty. Join us at NoKidHungry.org.

Through larger plenary sessions and smaller breakout workshops, participants explored poverty and hunger in rural America. A few key themes became apparent:

What’s Next?