BIDDEFORD — Childhood hunger is a significant problem in Maine, according to a task force charged with tackling the issue, which met for the first time last week.

Maine is currently third in the nation for food insecurity, and first in New England, according to a statement from the office of Maine Senate President Justin Alfond, D-Portland, who is a member of the Task Force to End Student Hunger. There are more than 83,000 students in Maine who are food insecure.

“The reality is that student hunger connects every part of our state. It is a Maine problem,” said Alfond, who serves as the co-chair of the task force. “If we want our students to be successful, then we must improve the reality that almost one in four school-aged children in Maine is hungry.”

Like the rest of the state, childhood food insecurity also affects York County.

For instance, in Biddeford, more than 50 percent of students in the school system qualify for free and reduced lunch. According to Good Shepherd Food Bank, last year, 61 percent of students at the John F. Kennedy Memorial School and Kindergarten Center qualified for free and reduced lunch.

“We send billions of dollars to other countries” to feed the hungry, said JFK Social Worker Bryan Litchfield, “but there are many who are hungry in our own backyard.”

During the school year, Litchfield provides backpacks with food for students to take home on weekends so they’ll have something to eat when they’re not in school.

Also during the school year, he runs a monthly school food pantry, sponsored by Good Shepherd Food Bank with funding from Hannaford supermarkets, that provides fresh produce and other food items to students and their parents.

But when summer vacation starts, said Litchfield, he feels nervous about whether students will get enough to eat.

Near the end of the school year, he said, “Kids tell us, ”˜I’m scared. I don’t know what’s going happen.’”

During the summer months, there are free meal programs that children 18 and younger can take advantage of in Biddeford, in other communities in York County and in other school districts around the state. These programs are funded entirely by the federal government.

Making sure students get enough to eat is not only important for their physical growth, but is also impacts how they perform in school, officials said.

“Studies show that children who are hungry have higher instances of attention, focus, behavior and attendance issues. As sad as this is, we can determine based on that which children are likely to graduate and which are not,” said state Rep. Tori Kornfield, D-Bangor, co-chairperson of the task force. “Feeding these children is an economic imperative and a moral imperative.”

In addition to Kornfield and Alfond, there are 15 other members of the task force, which is comprised of legislators, state department officials, food service providers, nonprofits, and parents of Maine schoolchildren.

In future meetings, members will travel outside of Augusta to hear from people from other parts of the state.

The task force will submit a report with recommendations, including possible legislation, by the end of this year.

The task force is scheduled to meet again on Aug. 11.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or [email protected].