(105 ILCS 126/5)
Sec. 5. State policy and legislative intent. The General Assembly
recognizes that hunger and food security are serious problems in the State of
Illinois with as
many as one million citizens being affected. These citizens have lost
their sense of food security.
Food insecurity occurs whenever the availability of nutritionally adequate
and safe foods or the ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially
acceptable ways is limited or uncertain. Hunger is a painful or uneasy
sensation caused by a recurrent or involuntary lack of food and is a
potential, although not necessary, consequence of food insecurity. Over
time, hunger may result in malnutrition.
It is estimated that just under 600,000 Illinois
children
experience hunger or food insecurity, meaning that they either go without
eating meals,
or their parents or guardians cannot provide the kinds of food they need.
At present, the Illinois economy is steadily experiencing a 6%
unemployment rate, people are being laid off who thought they had job
security, and the unemployed are remaining unemployed beyond the
terms of unemployment benefits. Emergency food providers throughout
the State are experiencing an increase in the number of working poor
families requesting emergency food. In October 2003, Illinois was
ranked 48th in the nation in providing school breakfasts to low-income
children of families who meet the criteria for free and reduced-price
lunches.
Because
low-income children are not being
adequately nourished, even to the point where many are arriving at school
hungry, the General Assembly believes it is in the best interest of
Illinois to utilize resources available through existing child nutrition
programs, to the fullest extent possible.
The General Assembly also recognizes a definite correlation between
adequate child nutrition and a child's physical, emotional, and cognitive
development. There is also a correlation between adequate nutrition and a
child's ability to perform well in school.
Documented research has proven that school breakfasts improve
attendance and increase a child's readiness to learn.
In this regard, the General
Assembly realizes the importance of the National
School Breakfast Program and the Summer Food Service Program
as
effective measures that must be widely implemented to ensure more adequate
nutrition for Illinois children.
(Source: P.A. 93-1086, eff. 2-15-05.) |