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Land Of Plenty Can End Childhood Hunger

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 29, 2008

So much attention has been paid to childhood obesity that it's easy to forget children at the other end of the spectrum - those who don't get enough to eat.

Thankfully, a new effort is afoot to change that.

The Florida Partnership to End Childhood Hunger plans to make a difference by marshaling programs that help low-income families but often go unused.

The goals are to get more needy families filing for the Earned Income Tax Credit, ease the application process for food stamps and connect nearly 1 million eligible children to sites that serve meals.

Amazingly, about 310,000 low-income Florida families eligible for the tax credit never claim it, leaving behind $429 million in refunds. Getting these families to claim their refunds would give the state a major economic boost.

The initiative also hopes to connect the poor with more nutritious foods, perhaps by setting up more farmers markets in low-income neighborhoods.

Organizer Doris Reeves-Lipscomb says it's hard to imagine that in a state with such vast resources, kids would go hungry. Even those who appear to have a weight problem may be malnourished if they eat cheap foods high in fat - think white bread and bologna - instead of pricey fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Florida is indeed a land of plenty, but the state needs an effort like this to ensure our children get the proper food to grow.

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