“The Dude” is pressing lawmakers for help in the fight against childhood hunger.
Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges, known colloquially as “The Dude” for his staring role in the hit film “The Big Lebowski,” is concerned that a lack of proper nutrition is holding school children back from learning.
{mosads}Bridges pleaded with senators Wednesday to expand a summer meal program that feeds hungry children from low-income families while they are on break from school.
“We’re hearing from teachers that the kids who don’t get fed properly during the summer are coming back to school and really having trouble retaining what they learned the year before,” Bridges told The Hill.
“They don’t settle into the new school year as well as kids who have proper nutrition,” he added. “Their reading suffers, and several years of this really takes a toll. They find that sometimes kids fall three grades behind their friends.”
Bridges, in coordination with Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, spoke with Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and the top Democrat on the committee, Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), about increasing funding for the school meal program so more children qualify while they are on summer break.
“We haven’t updated the summer meal programs since 1968 when they came into being,” Bridges said. “And we’ve updated, certainly, our iPhones, our watches, our cars, our televisions, everything we have. But we haven’t updated the health of our kids during the summer.”