logo
Feeding America CEO addresses rising hunger crisis in US

Feeding America CEO addresses rising hunger crisis in US

Yahoo02-05-2025
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — An official with the nonpartisan organization, Feeding America, shares details about the hunger epidemic across the nation.
Data shows that nearly 50 million people in the United States are experiencing food insecurity, with 14 million of those being children.
Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America, has a strong desire to help people across the country who are experiencing hunger.
'One of the best things about Feeding America is that we are a network that includes over 200 food banks across the country,' said Babineaux-Fontenot. 'We have agency partners and meal programs, over 60,000 all across the country, partner state associations, like Feeding Louisiana.'
According to Babineaux-Fontenot, food insecurity rates have increased annually.
'Food insecurity rates have been going up, but one of the great things about our network is that we focus on the people and the policy, we don't focus on politics at all,' she shared.
Babineaux-Fontenot said if you are interested in donating or volunteering at any food bank across the country, you can visit the Feeding America site to find the nearest food bank. You can help by donating funds or even food, she added.
'There's not just one way to help,' Babineaux-Fontenot said. 'This issue impacts every single one of us. Every single one of us has an opportunity to be part of something positive to change it, so I hope people will.'
Hundreds rally at Louisiana Capitol for Anti-Hunger Day to highlight food insecurity
Advocates rally at Louisiana Capitol for the homeless
Baton Rouge native crowned Miss Louisiana's Teen 2025
Mayor-President Edwards launches 'Pray for the Parish' initiative in Baton Rouge
Tim Cook says Trump tariffs could cost Apple more than $900M in June quarter
Feeding America CEO addresses rising hunger crisis in US
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Scientists Say They've Found a Way to Reverse Aging in Human Skin Cells
Scientists Say They've Found a Way to Reverse Aging in Human Skin Cells

Yahoo

time10 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Scientists Say They've Found a Way to Reverse Aging in Human Skin Cells

Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: Researchers have found that serum from younger blood can be combined with bone marrow cells and injected into older skin cells, producing rejuvenating effects. This is known as heterochronic parabiosis—the transfer of the blood of a younger animal to an older one. Previous trials on rodents showed a reduction in signs of aging. Experiments have been in vitro so far, and there still needs to be more probing into the mechanisms of rejuvenation, but serum injections might someday be viable. Eternal youth has become a lucrative market, enabling the sale of bottled promises in the form of creams and serums that may or may not erase dark spots and smooth wrinkles. And the 'promises' are getting... creative. From phototherapy to vampire facials that claim to use your own blood as an anti-aging serum, futuristic treatments promise to rewind years of visible aging. But most so-called miracle procedures touted by glossy magazines have not been made truly viable. Vampire facials might do nothing more that drain your blood and your wallet, but a team of researchers led by scientists from Beiersdorf AG Research and Development in Hamburg, Germany, claim to have figured out how blood serum (all of the parts of your blood that don't involve clotting) could reverse the ravages of time—if combined with bone marrow cells, that is. Extracting serum from more youthful skin and combining it with bone marrow cells actually showed visible effects on skin cultures in vitro. The researchers concluded that there must be an interaction between blood and bone marrow cells that causes skin rejuvenation. Without the bone marrow cells, the serum had no effect (which explains why vampire facials are more hype than anything else). While this sounds almost as macabre as Countess Elizabeth Bathory allegedly bathing in the blood of virgins to restore her youth, no human sacrifices are required for this treatment. What the countess probably would have been looking for today is a process known as heterochronic parabiosis, which involves combining blood from two animals of different ages. Such experiments have been previously tested on older mice (which were given injections of blood and bone marrow cells from juveniles) and older rats (which were injected with the same type of youth cocktail from piglets). Both had positive outcomes, but this had never been tried on human skin—until now. 'As the population's life expectancy increases, it has become a major interest to understand the mechanisms of aging with the aim to promote healthy aging and extend the disease-free lifespan,' the researchers said in a study recently published in the journal Aging. 'The skin, as our largest organ, is a valuable tissue to investigate aging, as first signs of aging are mostly visible, and it reflects the overall human health.' To see if this approach could potentially work on humans, the Beiersdorf team injected human skin cell cultures with serum—one sample that did contain bone marrow cells and one that did not. And the bone marrow seemed to be the key. Bone marrow is so potent because of the types of cells it contains—various stem and progenitor cells, both of which can differentiate into various other cell types. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), found in both blood and bone marrow, are immature cells that can develop into all types of blood cells and self-renew, making them a huge asset for regenerative medicine. Bone marrow stem cells are easily influenced by their surroundings, and depending on their environment, they secrete proteins that promote growth and help with tissue repair. But what is even more amazing is that they will migrate to skin and boost regeneration and repair while promoting homeostasis. Stem cells can lose some of their functionality and self-renewal abilities as skin ages, but when the skin cultures were exposed to blood serum and bone marrow cells from young donors, that re-introduction of young cells took years off the skin's biological age, increased the production of cells, and improved how the skin looked. The researchers think that this rejuvenation is caused by proteins from bone marrow cells responding to young blood—they discovered that bone marrow cells secreted 55 proteins related to age, and seven of these had rejuvenating abilities that improved the signs of skin aging. In upcoming studies, the researchers anticipate finding out whether young blood serum and bone marrow cells can possibly rejuvenate other organs, as well as how long the rejuvenating effects last. 'Future studies are needed to further validate our identified proteins in the context of systemic skin rejuvenation and aging [like] the prolongation of the culture time would be interesting to explore,' they said. Sorry, Countess Bathory. It turns out there is a valid scientific reason your blood baths were not the elixir of youth. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?

Pregnant Woman Carrying Twins Has Ultrasound—Shock at What It Reveals
Pregnant Woman Carrying Twins Has Ultrasound—Shock at What It Reveals

Newsweek

time3 days ago

  • Newsweek

Pregnant Woman Carrying Twins Has Ultrasound—Shock at What It Reveals

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A mom to be could barely believe what she was seeing when she went for an ultrasound to get a closer look at her unborn twins. Michelle de Bruijn, from Amsterdam in the Netherlands, was 14 weeks pregnant when she underwent the scan. What she saw in that brief moment brought tears to her eyes. "It was just so heartwarming to see that happening," De Bruijn told Newsweek. "This moment felt particularly meaningful because I chose to walk this journey solo." At age 39, De Bruijn decided to become a solo mother by choice (SMC). Today, a significant number of women are choosing to follow a similar path. Figures published on the website show that, in 2022, 54 percent of private customers at Cryos' Sperm and Egg Bank were SMCs. De Bruijn took a slightly different path, though, one that she said "wasn't straightforward." She added: "I received some pretty devastating news from my fertility doctors. They told me I had reduced fertility due to low Anti-Müllerian Hormone." AMH is the hormone produced by the ovaries that serves as an indication of the number of eggs a woman has. De Bruijn's results suggested a very low egg count. She was told she needed to start trying immediately. It could take "up to a year or possibly longer" to conceive. De Bruijn was devastated. "When I asked what I could do about it, they basically said, 'Nothing. This is it. And you're 39, so you're old," she said. "At that moment, my tears turned to anger." De Bruijn was determined to prove them wrong, so, rather than use a fertility clinic, she took "complete control" of her journey. She spent the next six months reading up on all things fertility and focusing on preparing her body for the process. "I became pregnant through donor conception with a known donor," De Bruijn said. "I also wanted full control over choosing my donor. I really wanted to get to know him personally, so I met my incredible donor through an app, basically Tinder for sperm donation." Incredibly, De Bruijn's approach paid dividends. "I got pregnant with twins on my first try," she said. "My due date is February 2, but, since I'm carrying twins, they'll likely arrive at least two weeks earlier." In most cases, discovering you were having twins would be a surprise, but not to De Bruijn. She had been carefully monitoring her Human Chorionic Gonadotropin and progesterone levels during her pregnancy and, having noticed both were high, knew there was a good chance. "By the time I got my first ultrasound around six weeks, I was pretty confident about what we'd find," De Bruijn said. "When they were confirmed as twins, I felt incredibly grateful. It felt magical, honestly." There was something equally magical to come at the recent ultrasound scan, though. De Bruijn has been sharing her journey to TikTok under the handle @iammichelledebruijn so she thought nothing of sharing the footage online. The post captures the sight that greeted her that day. Her two unborn babies were lying face to face, and then one of the two leaned in to give the other a kiss. "You just witnessed their first act of love," De Bruijn wrote on the video. That moment made her feel understandably emotional. It felt like a validation of her choice of donor. "I wanted someone who would be as committed, caring, and loving about this process as I am, and that's really hard to find," De Bruijn said. "When I eventually found that person, I knew this wasn't going to be just a transaction. These babies were made out of love, out of presence, out of care and intention. So, to witness these two little creatures expressing love to each other in the womb was just out of this world." De Bruijn is delighted the video of her special scan has gone viral, amassing over 184,000 views. She hopes that clip and the others she posts inspire other women to follow a similar fertility path. She said: "One diagnosis or one number said by a fertility doctor isn't a life sentence."

Opinion: A generation plugged in, tuned out
Opinion: A generation plugged in, tuned out

Los Angeles Times

time4 days ago

  • Los Angeles Times

Opinion: A generation plugged in, tuned out

At just nine years old, a child today can hold the world in their hands – yet lose touch with the one around them. For much of Generation Z, this is a reality. Like many kids, I got my first phone not because I needed one, but because peer pressure made it feel like I'd be left behind without it. After countless months of begging my parents, they bought me my first phone. With a brand new iPhone 7 in hand, I felt like I had unlocked the rite of passage. However, once I downloaded popular social media apps – Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok – my life turned around. Social media exposed me to conversations that I wasn't ready for. There comes a point in a child's life when they start to become subject to peer pressure. According to Children's Health , peer pressure begins as early as age ten with the formation of friend groups in elementary school. Peer pressure can come in many different shapes and sizes: what you wear, how you act, and now, whether you own a phone. When it comes to peer pressure caused by phones, it more specifically goes under the category of ' social conformity . ' Social conformity is the tendency for one to adjust their thoughts, beliefs, or lifestyle to align with those in a group or a social norm. The tendency for children or teenagers to succumb to social conformity is becoming more and more prevalent in this day and age. Social media is dangerous. While it isn't physically dangerous, social media has created a culture of comparison and hate speech. According to the Anti-Defamation League's annual survey , up to 22% of Americans reported experiencing hate speech online. For children and teens, especially, this can be harmful. The harm is rooted in a child's maturity level. Now more than ever, before children develop proper emotional and psychological tools, they are shown explicit and harmful content. Instead of connecting and building confidence, kids often find themselves isolated and insecure. In fact, a survey conducted by the Royal Society for Public Health questioned 14-24-year-olds on how UK social media has impacted their health. The results revealed that Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all led to increased feelings of depression, anxiety, poor body image, and loneliness. As social media platforms continue to shape young minds, it's important to make a change. While it's nearly impossible to disconnect children from social media completely, we can reform these platforms from within. Now, more than ever, it's crucial to enforce extra precautions through stricter content moderation, promoting digital literacy, and holding platforms accountable for the harmful environments they create. Together, we must aim to create a space that fosters well-being and connection rather than harm and isolation. Related

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store