I recently attended an event launching the 2nd Annual Bread Art Project. The Bread Art Project was created in 2009 by the Grain Foods Foundation to help increase awareness of the growing hunger problem in our country.

Nearly 17 million children in America – almost one in four – struggle with hunger. Grain Foods Foundation has teamed up with Food Network's Melissa d’Arabian, host of Ten Dollar Dinners, and Share Our Strength to help give hungry children access to nutritious meals.


During the event Melissa d’Arabian explained how the issue of childhood hunger affects everyone. Being raised in a single parent home sometimes Melissa didn't have enough to eat and really benefited from school breakfasts and lunch's.

Now that she's a mother of four, Melissa wants to make sure all parents understand the importance of feeding children a healthy well-balanced diet including bread and grains.

• Hunger impacts children in many ways: weaker immune systems, impaired growth and development. Children who are hungry may have impaired cognitive functioning and may have diminished capacity to learn
• Hungry children suffer more everyday ailments including headaches, colds and fatigue. Ironically, children facing hunger are more susceptible to obesity
• Hungry families need enough nutritious food, not just enough food, and educating families about how to prepare healthy foods on limited budgets must be part of the nation’s solution to childhood hunger.

Melissa developed recipes that shows how to choose the right foods to fit a budget while providing healthy meals with long-lasting benefits. During the event these dishes, that incorporated grains foods and breads, were enjoyed by the moms and their kids.

During the event I also learned about creating a personalized piece of bread art – at no cost – by uploading a favorite drawing or photo, or designing a new one using a digital slice of bread as the canvas. The Grain Foods Foundation will donate $50,000 to Share Our Strength plus an additional $1 for each qualifying Bread Art submission received now through June 30, 2010.