In early March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to upend daily life, I received an urgent call from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The agency asked our team at the Baylor University Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty to scale up a small Texas-based pilot program—Meals-to-You—into a nationwide effort. The program, which was originally designed to deliver meals to children in rural areas during the summer months, was also the result of years of bipartisan research, community engagement, and collaboration with school districts, food companies, and logistics experts, underscoring how hunger is a national litmus test of our values and beliefs.

Our team answered the USDA’s call–and as schools across the country suddenly closed, we got to work. Together, we were part of a national effort that included public agencies, private companies, and academic institutions coming together to deliver over 40 million meals to 270,000 children in the most remote parts of the U.S.

Today, I find myself thinking back to this powerful demonstration of what’s possible when we work together in a spirit of compassion and urgency, demonstrating how hunger is a national litmus test. Because in an era marked by great division, I remain convinced that hunger is simply one of the clearest measures of a society’s moral and systemic health. Rising food insecurity among children, working families, and the elderly isn’t just a humanitarian concern—it’s a national litmus test. It exposes our priorities, what we tolerate from our institutions, and how seriously we take the obligation to love our neighbors.

And while our politics may divide us, fighting hunger should be something that brings us together, allowing us to "pass" the national litmus test hunger presents. Americans across the political spectrum agree: no child should go to bed hungry, and every family should have a fair shot at providing for their children. During the pandemic, we witnessed a rare and beautiful moment of unity—government, industry, and academia coming together to serve children in rural communities. That collaboration even helped shape bipartisan policy, leading to the permanent inclusion of non-congregate summer meal options for rural families.

Read the full article about hunger as a national litmus test by Jeremy K. Everett at Food Tank.