What I am learning as an HFVT Intern

Guest Blog post by our Child Nutrition Advocacy Team Intern, Meghan O'Daniel

I’m a UVM senior who joined Hunger Free Vermont as an intern for the Child Nutrition Advocacy Team in late January. I’ve spent my whole life in Vermont, moving from Addison County to Chittenden County, so before beginning my semester long journey with the organization, I knew that the issue of hunger existed in the state. My time here, however, has made aware of what an enormous problem it really is. I’ve learned that hunger doesn’t necessarily mean starving until a person is just skin and bones. Hunger can manifest itself on the faces of countless children in line for breakfast on a Monday morning after a weekend of very little food. I recently visited the Milton schools and saw one Food Service Director’s attempts to end hunger in Vermont. Steve Marinelli provides free oatmeal at breakfast and free soup at lunch every day for his students, whether they participate in the school meal program at a free or reduced rate, or don’t participate in it at all. Witnessing his efforts to reduce childhood hunger gave me hope that the fight to end hunger is in fact being fought on a daily basis, and that with increasing awareness and persistence, hunger will eventually be a thing of the past.

This post is part of our month-long blog series in celebration of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' "National Nutrition Month." This year's theme is, "Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day," so each of us here at Hunger Free Vermont will take a turn to share a personal goal, story or fact regarding nutrition through daily blog posts throughout the month.