Claire Babineaux-Fontenot Is on a Mission to End Hunger in the U.S.
Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America, began to work at the country's largest domestic hunger-relief organization—overseeing a network of more than 200 food banks and 60,000 partners—two years before the COVID-19 pandemic shook the global economy. Many people assume that food insecurity rates peaked in 2020, when those facing hunger became more outwardly visible, Babineaux-Fontenot says, but the problem is now more pressing than ever. 'When all of those long lines of cars and the people that they represented went back to the insides of buildings, it's like they disappeared from the American consciousness,' she says.
In 2023, an estimated 13.5% of households, or 1 in 7, were food insecure, up from 10.5% in 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The price of food in the country has risen by nearly 28% since 2019. And while that rate has recently slowed, the emphasis on the economy in the 2024 election showed just how urgent an issue the cost of living has become for Americans.
Babineaux-Fontenot, 60, embraces the nonpartisan nature of her work. 'No matter what your political positions are in this country, people consistently believe that people deserve to have access to nutritious food,' she says. Her purpose as a nonprofit leader has been deeply informed by her untraditional upbringing in a family with 108 children (connected via biology, fostering, and adoption), and by her Catholic faith, instilled in her by her devout parents.
Last year, her dedication to service earned her the University of Notre Dame's prestigious Laetare Medal, previously awarded to Presidents Joe Biden and John F. Kennedy. 'To have been bestowed the highest honor bestowed to an American Catholic and to know how imperfectly I walk presented a bit of a challenge to me,' says Babineaux-Fontenot. 'There will be nothing I'm asked to do in this work that will ever be anywhere near as difficult as what tens of millions of people in this country are asked to do every day. And I'm privileged that I get the chance to be their partner in this.'
Contact us at letters@time.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
To Parents on the First Day of Kindergarten: What Your Kids Really Need From You
This school year is THE year for me—my youngest is going off to kindergarten. The bittersweet feeling of this transition is acute. As much as this is a big moment for our kids, the first day of kindergarten for parents is equally momentous. The last 5 years have been filled with so much parenting intensity. There's been joy, exhaustion, struggle, love, self-doubt, and all the rollercoaster of emotions that come with the early years of parenting. We've survived sleep deprivation, tried to keep our patience during many a toddler tantrum (which still rear their head once in a while), managed the ups and downs of potty training and now we have a 5-year-old who hardly resembles that little baby we brought home years ago. Our 5-year-olds are now eager learners, excited by the world around them. They are now able to (mostly) hold a conversation with us for longer than a minute, even if it is about their favorite insect or fictional character. With our help and guidance, they have made amazing developmental leaps and are now ready to take on the new adventures that kindergarten will bring. The first day of kindergarten for parents: The kids still need us As a mom in this stage of life, it's easy to feel like our kids don't need us anymore. Sure, they are still young, but they are so independent in many ways. There's no more changing diapers, hourly feeding (well, unless raiding the pantry counts), rocking, and soothing. However, after experiencing the first day of kindergarten with my 9-year-old a few years ago, I have a little more perspective on what this transition means for parenting. As you might have guessed, these kids of ours, even with their 'big-kid' mentality, still really need us. They need us to model kindness With school and more interaction with friends, our kindergartners will inevitably encounter some experience of unkindness. Many of our kids have probably encountered a bit of this already. Kids tease, they 'unfriend,' and they may even push or shove. This is normal, but it is difficult for us when we realize that the safe bubble we've tried to create for our kids is no longer realistic. They will get their feelings hurt. The first day of kindergarten for parents means mentally preparing yourself for this reality. What we do know from research, however, is that kids are wired for kindness at some level. In lab experiments, babies as young as 9 months gravitate toward the kind puppet or character. For this kindness instinct to really take hold in older kids, however, it has to be modeled…a lot. Schools that implement kindness programs tend to maintain a kind atmosphere even into the middle school years (yes, it's possible)! Modeling at home is crucial too, of course. Our daily interactions with our kids, but also with store clerks, waitresses and yes, even other drivers, all illustrate to our youngest observers what it looks like to be kind in a sometimes harsh world. They need us to help them find their passions With the first day of kindergarten comes a whole new world of learning for our kids. Many kids gravitate toward certain topics right away—dinosaurs, trains, cowboys, mermaids. This intense interest in one topic is perfectly normal and actually quite beneficial for kids' developing brains. While kids don't have to find their lifelong passion in kindergarten, I have found it helpful and fun (for them and us) to offer them opportunities that might spark their interests. School does a lot of this for us by exposing them to many different topics and skills. However, some kids may not find their interest in school. The first day of kindergarten for parents means that you may have to play a big role in helping them find their passion. My youngest child, while he loved preschool, didn't find anything that totally piqued his interest. I took it upon myself to find books, videos, etc. that might be something he could really get into. So far, it's been comic books! He loves 'reading' them and trying to write his own. You never can tell where a simple interest can take kids' learning. They need us to help them figure out their emotions Little kids (and even not-so-little ones) have big emotions. Although our kindergartners may be mostly past the tantrum days, those big emotions sometimes still overtake them. Long days of learning and less quiet time often mean meltdowns come day's end. Many schools are getting on the bandwagon with social-emotional learning, but it often falls on us parents to help our kids cope when big emotions try to take over. Kids often hold their emotional selves together well at school, and the teachers may report they are so well-behaved under their watch. Once at home with us, they often break down and let out all the emotional tension that has piled up during the day. We should consider this a good sign! As hard as it is to be the 'emotional trash can' for our kids, it means they feel safe and comfortable with us to let their guard down. This struggle has been real for me and my now 9-year-old. Even as a third-grader last year, he often came home an emotional mess after the ups and downs of a busy day. We can become the 'emotion coaches' for our kids to help them figure out these emotions, label them and understand that no emotions are 'bad.' It's also important to realize, however, that we don't have to get our kids 'back to happy' too soon and that making them happy all the time may not even be part of our job. We can listen, we can guide, but we usually can't force the emotions we want them to have. Ultimately, modeling self-regulation is the best gift we can give them. We don't have to join their emotional turmoil but we can be there to support them as they work through it. They need us to help them find meaning in their struggles (but not always fix the struggles) This relates a lot to the issue I just discussed, but in a more tangible way. Upon entering school, kids encounter a lot of challenges they haven't experienced before—kids who don't 'play nice,' teachers they may not enjoy, school work that is hard, etc. These are real challenges, and our kids need real guidance. However, in many cases, we cannot 'fix' the problem. It's tempting as a parent to try to fix it all—change teachers, separate classmates, call the principal…the list could go on forever. In some cases, this type of intervention might be needed, but in many cases, we just need to be patient. The first day of kindergarten for parents oftentimes means reminding yourself to be patient. Many times, kids work out their differences with classmates, they learn to love that teacher after all or the little extra explanation you give on that math problem makes the concept 'click' in their brain. Patience often pays big dividends in their maturity, growth, and in ours. Many times, our kids don't really need us to fix the problem; they just need us to listen and provide a context of meaning for their struggle. They just need a hand to hold as they face the challenge themselves. Kindergarten parents, I will be with you in spirit as you drop off your little ones. Enjoy the moments and be ready for a whole new parenting job. Best wishes for the first day of kindergarten! Solve the daily Crossword
Boston Globe
7 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Fewer people are reading for fun, study finds
There is evidence that reading for pleasure has been declining since the 1940s, the researchers said, but they called the size of the latest decrease 'surprising,' given that the study defined reading broadly, encompassing books, magazines and newspapers in print, electronic or audio form. Advertisement Many previous studies' results could be questioned because they didn't explicitly account for e-books and audiobooks, said Daisy Fancourt, a co-author of the study and a professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The study did not answer the question of why Americans were reading less. But the authors suggested some possible explanations, including increased use of social media and other technology, or more time spent at work because of economic pressure. Further research would be needed to confirm those theories. The decline in reading could have implications for Americans' learning, relationships and overall well-being, the researchers said. 'Even though reading is often thought of as more of an individual activity, when we read stories, we actually form connections with characters,' Fancourt said. 'The empathy that we feel for them is actually real, and these connections with characters can be ways that we can feel less alone, that we can feel socially and emotionally validated.' Advertisement The new study, published in the journal iScience, relied on data from the American Time Use Survey, which asks thousands of Americans per year to describe in detail how they spent a day. Over the 20 years the researchers analyzed, more than 236,000 Americans completed the survey. The findings showed significant demographic disparities among those who read for pleasure. For example, in 2023, the most highly educated people were more than twice as likely to read as the least educated, and high-income people were about 1.5 times as likely to read as low-income people. Those disparities widened over time. The researchers also found that, while more than 20% of people surveyed had a child under 9 years old, only 2% of those surveyed read with a child -- a finding that stayed largely flat throughout the study period but that could contribute to further declines in adult reading going forward, the researchers said. Research indicates that reading can have a wide range of benefits for educational attainment, reasoning and comprehension skills, imagination, empathy, mental health, cognitive health and more. Jill Sonke -- a co-author of the new paper and a director of the EpiArts Lab at the University of Florida, which studies how engagement in the arts and culture affects health -- said she would like to see more awareness that reading is a resource 'for our health and well-being.' 'As we're living in this really complex and really challenging time, we really need to be intentional about the ways in which we support our health,' Sonke said. Advertisement Fancourt expressed particular concern about the increase in demographic disparities among those who read for fun. Not only were people reading less, she said, but 'potentially the people who could benefit the most for their health -- so people from disadvantaged groups -- are actually benefiting the least.' People may draw particular benefits from thinking deeply about what they read and talking about it with others. It is not the case that 'I can sit you down and give you a Jane Austen novel, you read it, and you come out with better mental health,' said James Carney, an associate professor at the London Interdisciplinary School and the lead author of a 2022 study on reading and mental health. But discussing and reflecting on fiction -- as opposed to just reading it -- was linked to better mental health and social capabilities, including the ability to perceive nuances in interpersonal relationships, said Carney, who was not involved in the new study. Engaging with many forms of nonfiction would probably have similar benefits, he said. This article originally appeared in
The Hill
7 hours ago
- The Hill
Half of Americans say journalists ‘losing influence' on society: study
Half of Americans don't find journalists to be influential over society and public discourse, a new study from the Pew Research Center found. About half of U.S. adults, 49 percent, said journalists are losing influence in society, compared with 15 percent who said they are gaining influence, the study published on Wednesday found. Fewer than half, 45 percent, said they have a great deal or a fair amount of confidence in journalists to act in the best interests of the public, according to the study. Majorities of respondents described most journalists as 'intelligent,' 63 percent, and 'well-intentioned,' 58 percent. More than half, 58 percent, also said most journalists are biased. The study comes as more Americans turn away from mainstream and traditional news outlets in favor of social media platforms, content producers and internet influencers for updates on current events. A dwindling supply of advertising revenue is leading to a diminished local media presence in many major markets, while large news providers are retooling their business away from print and linear broadcast channels and toward streaming and digital.
