(CBS NEWS) -- In "America's Breadbasket," corn and wheat stretch on into the horizon. But not far from the Midwest's ample harvest live kids who go hungry almost each and every day.
Take Connersville, Indiana, about 60 miles east of Indianapolis. Nearly a quarter of the children in the county are at, or below, the poverty line. More than 60% of them participate in either free- or reduced-price lunch programs.
And those who serve those meals, like Louisa Smithson, say for some kids this may be all they eat. "This gives them a little bit of hope," Smithson said. "If we can offer them some hop, yeah!"
Schools have always been the front line in the battle against childhood hunger. It started with the National School Lunch Act, signed by President Truman in 1946, which gave federal money to states to fund school lunches.
Today more than 30 million kids benefit. And yet, by some estimates at least one in six still doesn't know where the next meal is coming from.
