Maddi’s Fridge: Bringing Food Insecurity to Children’s Attention

While we spend a lot of time focusing on our children’s learning and activities, it’s easy to take for granted a basic need that many kids still struggle with: having enough food. The children’s picture book Maddi’s Fridge by Lois Brandt doesn’t shy away from this topic. Instead, it uses a story of friendship and empathy to open conversations about poverty, hunger, and the importance of support. For families, Maddi’s Fridge offers a wonderful way to raise awareness and inspire action within your children.

Maddi’s Fridge is the story of two friends, Sofia and Maddi, who go to the same school and live in the same neighborhood. However, their home lives are very different. While Sofia’s fridge is full of food, Maddi’s fridge sits empty because her family can’t afford groceries. Sofia learns of her friend’s dilemma, and suddenly, the issue becomes real and personal. Sofia is troubled, because she doesn’t know whether she should keep her friend’s secret, or speak up to find her help. Her dilemma brings attention to a question many children face when they see hunger in their community. The book includes a section with practical ways children and families can help. There’s also information on anti-hunger resources and how to get involved.

Maddi’s Fridge is an honest look into struggles that many children in every community face. Nearly 14 million children in the U.S. currently live in “food insecure” homes, meaning they can’t consistently access enough nutritious food for a healthy life, and some studies estimate that close to one in five children struggle with reliable access to food. Food insecurity doesn’t just affect hunger. Not having reliable access to food can affect children’s health, growth, and development.

When approaching a topic like food insecurity, parents often struggle with how to have age appropriate conversations with their children. Maddi’s Fridge can help you take the first steps to allowing your children a look into this topic.

Read the book together, then talk with your child. What would you do if you were Sofia? How would you help a friend like Maddi?

Support local food pantries. Many children in communities across the U.S. rely on these resources when food at their homes can be uncertain. Schoolhouse Kitchen + Studio has held Soup + Bread Nights to support local food pantries. Some of the local food pantries we support are:

- Irving Park Food Pantry

- Beyond Hunger Oak Park

- Nourishing Hope

Normalize discussions about food insecurity. Let your kids know it’s okay to talk about food insecurity, and to ask for help if they see someone who needs it!

With ongoing economic changes and rising food costs, food insecurity remains an ongoing challenge. For many families, the choice between paying bills and putting food on the table is real. Books like Maddi’s Fridge remind us that hunger doesn’t always look like what many expect. It can happen to kids in class, your neighbor, or a friend you meet in the hallway.

By bringing awareness through storytelling, Maddi’s Fridge can help cultivate a generation that doesn’t turn away from hunger, and instead chooses to take action.

Cooking with kids is another powerful way to continue the conversations that Maddi’s Fridge begins. At Schoolhouse Kitchen + Studio, children don’t just learn how to measure, mix, and cook. They learn where food comes from, how it’s shared, and why it matters. Cooking together creates a hands-on, judgment-free space where kids can ask big questions about food, access, and fairness while working side by side with peers and adults.

When children prepare meals together, food becomes more than something on a plate, it becomes a shared experience. In a community kitchen setting like Schoolhouse, kids see firsthand how food can bring people together, support neighbors, and spark empathy. These moments help normalize conversations around hunger and community care, reinforcing the idea that everyone deserves access to nourishing food and that even small actions can make a difference.

Listen to the Maddi’s Fridge audiobook here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To07TjBnrNY

Blog by: Madeline Norbut