Children are among those most directly affected by food insecurity, a condition in which households lack access to adequate food because of money or other resources (Gundersen & Ziliak, 2015). According to the latest United States Department of Agriculture (2016) reporting, 1 in 5 children experiences hunger on a daily basis. That ratio increases for African American and Latino children whom experience 1 in 3 ratios. While many programs exist to address this growing problem among youth and impoverished families, the efficacy of those programs is yet to be determined and the problem of hunger in America persists. This qualitative research study utilized an innovative methodological approach to explore youth food justice narratives from two cross-town middle schools in Kentucky. Through the use of photos, students identified several factors that influence their ability to meet their food needs and areas of inequity within their community. Strategies were provided for policymakers and educators to address these issues.

Millennium Development Goal 1 (MDG 1) on halving extreme poverty is measured with the international poverty line. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the measurement of MDG 1 by reviewing the robustness of the international poverty line and some of its national sub-reports. There are at least two problems in assessing a reliable poverty line, namely what constitutes extreme poverty and what kind of life situation this refers to. Through a qualitative content analysis, the study shows that the selected national reports lack a reliable reference for human dietary energy requirements pivotal for estimating a fair threshold for food needs. In the case that a reliable source was used, the activity level was prone to a wide range of interpretations and lacked procedural consistency.  The FAO (2011) has presented minimum dietary energy requirements that are below the references used in the national reports, which could shift the poverty line. The study also shows that the concept of “extreme poverty” has been used inconsistently. MDG 1 identifies extreme poverty as the inability to meet basic food- and non-food needs. The international poverty line is based on a myriad of national poverty lines ranging from minimum- to generous needs, where extreme poverty is defined as people barely having enough for the food component alone. These two variables create obstacles in setting a reliable international poverty line. A small shift in the international poverty line changes the poverty rates substantially, making it difficult for poverty programs and MDG 1 in truly identifying the people in most need of help.