1 in 5 Florida Kids Face Hunger — Treasure Coast Families Are Not Spared

One in every five children in Florida is growing up in a household that cannot consistently put safe, nutritious food on the table. Advocates say the crisis is deepening across Treasure Coast communities as pandemic-era relief has dried up and grocery costs continue to climb.

Sky Beard, director of No Kid Hungry Florida, told public officials that the food insecurity rate had improved during the pandemic, when temporary investments in nutrition programs briefly pushed the ratio to roughly one in six children. Since then, it has crept back to one in five statewide, according to 2023 data from Share Our Strength, the Washington, D.C.-based organization behind the No Kid Hungry campaign.

In some rural counties, the toll is steeper. Hamilton County, east of Tallahassee, is approaching one in three children experiencing food insecurity — a warning sign for similarly rural stretches of western Martin and St. Lucie counties, where transportation barriers and limited grocery options compound the problem.

A statewide poll commissioned by the campaign found that 82 percent of Floridians surveyed said the cost of food is rising faster than their income. Seventy percent said rising food costs have negatively affected their financial situation over the past year. More than half of families reported declines in their physical health, mental health and social well-being. More than a third of parents said they noticed those same declines in their children.

Beard singled out two policy levers Florida has yet to fully pull. The first is Summer EBT — also called SUN Bucks — a federal program that provides $120 per child to qualifying families when school cafeterias close for the summer. Florida remains one of just 12 states not yet participating. Advocates say an August deadline gives state lawmakers another chance to opt in. A poll found that four in five Floridians support the program.

This article was generated with AI assistance using publicly available information. It was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication. TC Sentinel uses AI writing tools in accordance with FTC guidelines.