Rachael Talks About the Changing Face of Hunger in America

According to Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, 16 million American children – or one in every five – aren’t getting the food they need.

Helping solve hunger and childhood obesity is a cause near and dear to Rachael’s heart, and one of the reasons why she founded her Yum-o! organization.

As a part of the 2014 Food Network New York City Wine and Food Festival (NYCWFF), Rachael had the opportunity to take the stage at a New York Times TimesTalk, along with her friend, celebrity chef, and fellow hunger advocate, Tom Colicchio.

Rachael and Tom were interviewed by New York Times food writer Jeff Gordinier, and the three sat down to talk about the challenges and opportunities in this widespread problem.

For Rachael, one of the first areas to tackle is educating kids and their families about food and cooking by encouraging them to cook.

When Rachael was growing up, this education came directly from the classroom. “When I was in public school, I had to take shop, home ec, there were programs where you could learn how to work in professional kitchens. Everyone knew how to sew, fix a car, and make an egg, you know?” Now, she’s hoping Yum-o! and other resources can help fill this void when it comes to kitchen know-how.

In her experience, once kids get involved, they really get involved. “As soon as you make a connection for a kid as to where the food comes from and empower them that they can be a part of it, part of the story, it becomes a self-esteem thing. They really get excited about it!” she told the crowd.

There are long-term goals, too, especially around getting more nutritious foods into schools and how that can help with raising a healthier generation of young Americans.

“Prevention has somehow become a four-letter-word. We could fix so much if we just shifted [...] some of the dollars of what we provide at the public school level.”

Wanna help? As Rachael puts it, “It takes a lot of voices, and the squeaky wheel gets the oil.” Get in the know by checking out Rachael’s full TimesTalk here, and learn more about Rachael’s 9 Million Meals campaign!