Fighting Hunger through OST

Data shows that one in every four children throughout New Mexico are food insecure — that's approximately 130,000 children who are unsure where their next meal is coming from. 

The New Mexico Out-of-School Time (NMOST) Network is committed to expanding access to healthy meals after school to the 130,000 children who face food insecurity. NMOST feels this is a necessary investment to improve the health and education outcomes of New Mexico's most vulnerable citizens. 

WHAT IS THE AT-RISK AFTERSCHOOL MEALS PROGRAM?

The At-Risk Afterschool Meals component of the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) offers Federal funding to Afterschool Programs that serve a meal or snack to children in low-income areas. 

In New Mexico, the At-Risk Afterschool Meal Program is administered by the New Mexico Children Youth & Families Department (CYFD) 

NMOST INFOGRAPHICS

• Hunger in New Mexico 
• At-Risk Afterschool Meals via CACFP 

WHAT INDIVIDUALS, PROGRAMS, AND ORGANIZATIONS CAN DO

• Start serving afterschool meals in your afterschool program.
  • Check your program’s eligibility
    • As long as your program is in the attendance area of a school where AT LEAST 50% of students qualify for free/reduced price meals, your out-of-school time (OST) program qualifies for the At-Risk afterschool meals reimbursement program – New Mexico National School Lunch Program Free (NSLP), Reduced, and Paid Data for October School Year SY 17-18
• A teacher’s guide to closing the hunger gap 

WHAT LEGISLATORS CAN DO

• A guide for state policymakers 
• A toolkit for what every policy maker should know about hunger

NEW MEXICO MEAL SITES

• Free Healthy Meals for Kids — a Presbyterian Community Health Initiative
  • Albuquerque, NM 
  • Clovis, NM
  • Rio Rancho, NM
  • Santa Fe, NM
  • Socorro, NM

NEW MEXICO RESOURCES

• Roadrunner Food Bank 
• Feed NM Kids 
• Northern New Mexico Food Bank 
• Double Up New Mexico 
  • Double Up Food Bucks program doubles the value of federal nutrition assistance spent at participating farmers’ markets, farm stands, mobile markets, and grocery stores, helping New Mexicans bring home more locally grown fruits and vegetables
• New Mexico Food and Healthy Map Gallery ​​
  • The interactive maps of the New Mexico Community Data Collaborative (NMCDC) allow exploration of data for action. This gallery includes over two dozen neighborhood maps covering childhood obesity and school nutrition, licensed food establishments and summer meal sites, chronic disease statistics and health resources, physical activity and transportation, and farmers markets and public pantries.
• NMOST guest column on meals in out-of-school time as a means to address childhood hunger in New Mexico published in the Albuquerque Journal on Saturday, June 1, 2019.

NATIONAL RESOURCES

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

• CACFP At-Risk Afterschool Meals Guide 
• At-Risk Afterschool Meals, Questions and Answers 

Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)

• 2019 Afterschool Nutrition Report
• 2018 Afterschool Nutrition Report 
• Moving from Afterschool Snack to Meal
• Afterschool Meals Program Factsheet 

Feeding America

• Food Bank Locator  
• Map the Meal Gap – What does hunger look like in your community? 

No Kid Hungry

• Best Practices 

RESEARCH ON CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS, FOOD INSECURITY

• USDA: “Children’s Food Security and USDA Child Nutrition Programs” – Katherine Ralston, Katie Treen, Alisha Coleman-Jensen, and Joanne Guthrie
• FRAC:
  • "Afterschool Suppers: A Snapshot of Participation" – 2019 Afterschool Nutrition Report
  • “Afterschool Suppers: A Snapshot of Participation” – 2018 Afterschool Nutrition Report
  • “How Hungry is America?” 
• The Future of Children: “Childhood Food Insecurity in the U.S.: Trends, Causes, and Policy Options” – Craig Gundersen and James P. Ziliak

Fighting Hunger through OST archive