Hidden Figures, Hidden Crisis
Twenty-two percent of Black people experienced food insecurity in 2023.[1] That is over 9 million of our people who could not access enough food to lead healthy, active lives.[2] Our children suffer the most severe consequences but we have the power to change this right now.
According to Feeding America’s 2024 report, 27% of Black children – every 1 in 4 – lived in food insecure households.[3] One in four of our babies went to bed uncertain about from where their next meal would come. One in four faced hunger at twice the rate of white children.[4]
If this does not anger you and incite you to make a major shift, you may not be paying attention. However, anger without strategy is of no effect. Righteous indignation without a Kingdom solution is simply a complaint. We have Kingdom solutions that will help our children break the cycle of food insecurity and protect our children’s health and financial wealth.
Food Insecurity Is Not Just About Hunger
Food insecurity is the beginning of consequences that devastate Black children’s bodies and financial futures. Research shows that Black children have significantly higher rates of diet-related diseases – diabetes, hypertension, obesity – all directly linked to limited access to fresh, nutritious produce.[5] Our children are surrounded by dangerously processed foods that destroy their health while fresh vegetables and fruits remain financially out of reach or geographically unavailable in food deserts. This is a form of spiritual warfare manifesting in realities of the Black community. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy – and he uses any means necessary to accomplish it—including the current food system.
The Biblical Precedent for Food Security
Third John 1:2 says, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” The Most High desires both health and prosperity for His people-both spiritual health and physical health. Prosperity is a state of gaining ground and good success in business, agriculture, land ownership, and/or goods. Prosperity is not just physical health but He gave us the earth, the seeds, the soil, and the knowledge to produce the food that creates both prosperous health as well as financial prosperity.
When your child learns Agricultural Science at Chosen Ones Academy®, they learn 1) to operate in divine order being healthy and financially prosperous and 2) that fresh, nutrient-dense food does not have to come from a grocery store for premium prices or a food desert that offers nothing but processed poison. Good food can come from their own backyard, their own hands, and their own knowledge.
What the Research Shows
A groundbreaking 2024 study published in the Journal of School Health examined 4,116 third-grade students across 99 schools in Alabama – specifically targeting schools where at least 50% of students received free or reduced lunch. The study focused on majority rural, Southern students from limited-resource communities, with 38.8% of participants being Black children.[6] The results were clear: combined gardening and nutrition education is associated with significant increases in fruit and vegetable consumption among children from limited-income communities.[7]
The research demonstrates that students attending schools with gardens showed the highest consumption of fruits and vegetables, and when both gardens and nutrition education were combined, the dietary improvements were greatest.[8] Homeschool parents, you have the power to build capacity for your children through Agricultural Science and through small gardening projects at your own home.
The Economic Reality of Health
Food insecurity costs our families more than immediate hunger but diabetes or hypertension from over processed school, medical expenses, and more. The healthcare industry profits from processed food. The pharmaceutical industry profits from chronic diseases. The food industry profits from selling addictive and health-destroying products to communities that do not realize that transformation is in their own hands.
Agricultural Science: What Your Kindergartener Will Learn
In Chosen Ones Academy®’s Agricultural Science Course, your five-year-old will gain practical knowledge that directly impacts their health:
Understanding how plants and animals complete life processes, fulfill human needs, and interact in different environments: Understanding nutritional science and how food contributes to health. By exploring how plants and animals fulfill human needs, children will also learn about the role of food in the body.
Exploring how weather, soil, water, sunlight, and seasonal patterns affect planting, harvesting, storing, and selling on farms: Understanding of seasonal nutrition and food preservation. It connects environmental factors to the availability and nutritional quality of food, which directly impacts a family’s diet.
Understanding how plants, animals, land, tools, and technology work together to produce, process, and deliver food: Understanding the food system, which supports health-related topics of food preparation skills and food preservation and learning about the journey of food from the farm to the table helps a child understand the value of fresh, locally grown food.
Practicing essential survival techniques and sustainable living strategies such as living together on a family compound, finding food, water, and shelter, staying safe, making basic clothing and tools, and stewarding resources: Understanding health and well-being through sustainable living. It teaches practical skills related to finding, preparing, and preserving food and water, which are fundamental to survival and long-term health.
The Spiritual Warfare Dimension
Food insecurity affecting 1 in 4 Black children is spiritual warfare. The enemy knows that a malnourished child cannot reach his full potential. A child whose brain development is stunted by poor nutrition cannot fulfill her divine purpose. A child whose body is weakened by diet-related disease cannot walk in the strength God intended. When you enroll your children in Kindergarten Agricultural Science, you equip them with weapons for spiritual warfare to overcome poverty and oppression. You give them the knowledge to break free from systems designed to weaken, sicken, and destroy them.
The Choice Is Life or Death
Deuteronomy 30:19 says, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live.” Our choices are 1) to equip your child with agricultural science knowledge or 2) leave them dependent on a food and economic system that does not value their health or financial wealth. You have the power to change the trajectory of your child’s life. You can choose life. You can choose to give them knowledge that produces health instead of disease, abundance instead of scarcity, and strength instead of weakness.
Protect What Matters Most
Our children are under attack and that is one reason some of you decided to homeschool, deschool, or unschool your children. Food systems are corrupt. The world’s economic system is in recession. The medical system profits from poor food systems and poor health. However, you are not powerless. You have access to Kingdom solutions and principles that break these cycles. You have the opportunity to enroll your child in an education that teaches them to produce food that creates health and wealth, to understand nutrition through hands-on experiences, and to develop eating and money habits that sustain them for life.
Enroll your kindergartener in Chosen Ones Academy®’s Agricultural Science Course today. Protect their health. Secure their financial future. Transform their lives.
The choice is yours. Enrollment is open now. Click the link to get started.
References
[1] Feeding America. (2024). “Food Insecurity in Black Communities.” Retrieved from https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/black-communities
[2] Ibid. “According to the USDA, over 9 million Black people could not access enough food to lead a healthy, active life.”
[3] Ibid. “In 2023, 27% of Black children lived in food insecure households. That’s 1 in 4 Black children without reliable access to food.”
[4] Food Research & Action Center (FRAC). (2024). “Hunger & Poverty in America.” Retrieved from https://frac.org/hunger-poverty-america
[5] Feeding America. (2024). “Prioritizing Health Equity & Food Security.” Retrieved from https://www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/2024-09/FA_HealthEQ_BlackAmer_2024_f.pdf
[6] Sanchez, S.O., Funderburk, K., Reznicek, E., Parmer, S.M., & Hinnant, J.B. (2024). Impact of School Gardens on Nutrition Education Among Limited-Income Communities in Alabama. Journal of School Health, 95(2), 153-161. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.13513
[7] Ibid. “Combined gardening and nutrition education is associated with increases in fruit and vegetable consumption among majority rural, Southern students from limited-resource communities.”