Food security is the access to enough food for an active, healthy life. It means that food is there when you're hungry. If you are food insecure, you are hungry and have no prospects for food.
Face of Hunger - Utah
This last Tuesday the authors of this blog attended a conference in Salt Lake City - the Face of Hunger Utah conference. The majority of professionals in attendance were from food pantries and food banks, and a lot of the seminars held and ideas shared were geared to their efforts in feeding the hungry.
We spent the majority of the way home discussing the day, the speakers, and our opinions. This is what we heard and what we think about it:
- Our philosophy: Poverty in America is largely a result of misguided priorities. Hunger is a result of poverty. Thus, to give the hungry a source of sustainable food, they need a source of income. This doesn’t mean handing out food; it means creating jobs and helping them back onto their own feet. Starting a business would be a better long-term solution than starting a food bank.
- Giving without receiving: A lot of professionals at the conference were excited to report the increased number of users of food pantries and food stamps. They feel they are reaching those who need the help, and I’m sure they are in part. However, everyone has a different philosophy to help the hungry. The authors of this blog feel that giving the hungry the resources to find a job/career would be a better approach than giving the hungry government assistance to rely on.
- School Lunch and Summer Lunch Programs: Programs for hungry children are awesome. We gladly give our tax dollars to the innocent who cannot help themselves.
Face of Hunger - SUU
Under our mentor Cindy Wright, Brooke Nelson (another student in nutrition) and I directed a research study on food security at SUU this year. Our results were a little higher than we had thought they would be. At SUU, 36.2% of students, 22.2% of staff, and 8.6% of faculty are food insecure. They do not have access to enough food for a healthy life. Student and staff food insecurity is very high compared to the 2007 national average of 11% food insecure households, and Utah's 12.5% food insecure households. Food security has probably increased in the U.S. as a whole as we've been in a recession for a year now. However, it seems college students may be more hungry than we think.
If you cannot afford food
SUU HOPE pantry. Location: 185 S 300 W, white house across the street from science building. Phone: 435.586.8864. (You can just walk in and get whatever food you need, no ID)
Food pantries and sources for food when a person is not employed etc. are doing a wonderful job of making sure people have access to food. They do not function alone, as a society we need to look at the whole picture and provide resources for education, training, and job location for those needing these resources.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. For those that do fall on hard times, these food pantries and banks are literally life-savers until they can find employment again. It would be great to combine the two things those people need most then - something like food at a job fair, or a job fair coming to food pantries.
ReplyDeleteI am probably speaking of a minority when I say people can become reliant on government and charitable resources. The reality is there are both kinds of people out there - and to serve those who really need it, one has to serve those who really don't need it.
Good work Heather, I almost totally agree. I don't have a problem with the existance of food pantries just the philosphy that everyone deserves to have food bought and paid for and then just given to them without contributing to society. I agree with you that if you need food we are here to help but only when you have tried to help yourself first or are willing to try and help yourself. NO ONE should be a frequent vistor of a food pantry. I disagree about school and summer lunch programs. I feel that it is a parent's responsiblity to feed their children not tax payers. I feel that there is a lot of room for abuse of these programs. But I really don't have a better solution. I don't want kids to starve because their parents aren't responisble so I just have to accept the current programs until we think of something better! Good post though. Stirring up a little controversy is a great way to boost your readership! More posts like these would make you guys famous.
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