Social Action: Fight Hunger and Food Insecurity

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Social Action: Fight Hunger and Food Insecurity By Tania duPont

Transcript of Social Action: Fight Hunger and Food Insecurity

Social Action:Fight

Hunger and

Food Insecurity By Tania duPont

HUNGERDefinition hunger |ˈhəNGgər|nouna feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food, coupled with the desire to eat

verb [ no obj. ]1 (hunger after/for) have a strong desire or craving for2 archaic feel or suffer hunger through lack of food.

Food insecurity is the most broadly-used measure of food

deprivation in the United States.

1. The USDA defines food insecurity as meaning “consistent

access to adequate food is limited by a lack of money and

other resources at times during the year.”

FOOD INSECURITY

CHALLENGES

Insufficient Income

Often hunger and poverty go hand in hand- but keep in mind this is not the ultimate determinant of food

insecurity. Multiple factors contribute to this phenomenon and studies in the United States

indicate unemployment is a better predictor of food insecurity.

Insufficient Income ● 45.3 million people (15 percent) were in poverty, including 14.7 million (20 percent) children under the

age of 18.

● 49.1 million Americans lived in food-insecure households, including nearly 16 million children.

Feeding America is a nationwide network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs

that provides food and services to more than 46 million people each year.

● Based on annual income, 72 percent of all Feeding America client households live at or below 100

percent of the federal poverty line.

● The median annual household income of Feeding America clients is $9,175.

● More than half of client households (54 percent) report at least one employed person at some point in the

past year.

Insufficient Income Price and income swings can significantly affect the poor and hungry. When

prices rise, consumers often shift to cheaper, less-nutritious foods, heightening the risks of micronutrient deficiencies and other forms of malnutrition, which can

have long-term adverse effects on people’s health, development and productivity.

Source: FAO, The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2014

Poor nutrition causes nearly half (45%) of deaths in children under five – 3.1 million children each year.

Source: The Lancet, Series on Maternal and Child Nutrition, 2013

LOCAL STATISTICS AND INITIATIVES

Hawaiian Islands

Hawaiian Islands

Hawaiian Islands

Hawaii Foodbank, through its network of island food banks and their local food pantries and meal programs, is providing food assistance to more than 123,000 households encompassing 287,000 Islanders—or one in five island residents—including 47,894 keiki and over 46,000 kupuna.

MISSIONThe mission of The Food Basket, Inc. is to feed the hungry in Hawaii County while

attending to the root causes of this critical social problem. The Food Basket will

accomplish its mission by:

● Preventing the waste of all edible food in Hawaii County;

● Feeding the hungry with this food;

● Educating the community about local hunger and what can be done to solve

this social problem; and

● Collaborating with organizations of partnering missions to eradicate the root of

hunger and other social ills: poverty.

OBJECTIVESThe Food Basket’s goals include:

● Eradicating hunger on the Big Island through redistribution of food that would otherwise

be wasted;

● Providing a connection between Big Island agriculture and its most vulnerable

populations;

● Serving our supporters and clients in the spirit of Aloha, with respect and kindness;

● Removing the stigma that has been unfairly attached to those needing assistance;

● Helping our partners provide healthy, nutritious food to all of the Big Island’s needy, and;

● Providing an example of trust, transparency, and responsible stewardship for non-profits

and the public island-wide.

Hawaiian IslandsHawaii Food Basket - have started a "local" version of CSAs -

wherein, low income families on this island - those w/ EBT cards - can order a box of fresh produce weekly at a very reasonable

cost...it's always a "surprise" as items change week to week depending on the available produce- but the idea is to provide healthier food choices...too often, individuals/families who are

low income are forced to eat highly processed, high salt, high fat, high sugar foods so this is to try to make healthier options

affordable.

Hawaiian IslandsWaimea has recently been designed a BLUE ZONE project area

(actually, all of North Hawai'i - Waimea, North Kohala, Hamakua)

Which is a national program to enhance health/wellness...this runs the full gamut from public policy to schools, restaurants, businesses and food insecurity/hunger are just as big of an issue as is overeating

Hawaiian Islands

Brought to Hawaii as a part of an innovative partnership between HMSA and Blue Zones Project® by Healthways. Blue Zones Project is a community well-being improvement initiative that encourages changes to our surroundings and built-environment that lead to healthier options. When all parts of the community participate – from our worksites and schools to our restaurants

and grocery stores – the small changes each add up to huge benefits for the community- lower healthcare costs, boost

productivity, improve quality of life.

Hawaiian Islands-The process involves an application, an evaluation of the community, which typically needs to be somewhere with a critical mass of restaurants, workplaces, grocery stores, schools and the ability to set food policy, and then selection. -Following the selection, a team hosts open community meetings in which 20 to 30 concepts that work in other communities that have successfully adopted the Blue Zone project are presented. -Each community is asked to select 10 or so concepts to try to introduce in their area.

Hawaiian IslandsThe built environment: Improving roads and transportation options, parks, and public spacesMunicipal policies and ordinances: Promoting activity and discouraging junk food marketing and smokingRestaurants, schools, grocery stores and workplaces: Building healthier options into the places people spend most of their timeSocial networks: Forming and nurturing social groups that support healthy habitsHabitat: Helping people design homes that nudge them into eating less and moving moreInner selves: Encouraging people to reduce stress, find their purpose, and give back to the community

Hawaiian Islands

Hawaiian Islands

Designating Waimea as a Blue Zone is a goal/ part of a long term plan HMSA and Healthways have to make Hawaii become a Blue Zone state.

HMSA has already committed to the program, taking steps to become the state’s first Blue Zone company

WORLD HUNGER

World Hunger and Food InsecurityA Few Facts:

● One in every nine people on our planet go to bed hungry each night. FAO, The State of Food Insecurity in the World

2014

● Hunger kills more people each year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Source: FAO, The State

of Food Insecurity in the World 2014

● The vast majority of hungry people (791 million) live in developing countries, where 13.5 percent of the population is chronically undernourished. Source: FAO, The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2014

● One in four of the world’s children are stunted — an indicator of chronic malnutrition and calculated by comparing the height-for-age of a child with a reference population of well nourished and healthy children. In developing countries the proportion rises to one in three. Source: UNICEF, Improving

Child Nutrition, 2013

● Around half of all pregnant women in developing countries are anemic. This causes approximately 110,000 deaths during childbirth each year. Source: FAO (citing Smith and Haddad), The Female Face of Farming

World Hunger and Food Insecurity

Initiatives:

790-805 million people in the world do not

have enough to eat. This number is down

more than 100 million over the last decade,

and 209 million lower than in 1990–92.

Source: FAO, The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2014

Resourceshttp://www.stophungernow.org/learn/hunger-facts/http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/our-research/map-the-meal-gap/2013/HI_AllCounties_CDs_CFI_2013.pdfhttp://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/impact-of-hunger/http://www.povertyliving.com/2013/05/world-hunger-statistics/http://www.ffl.org/emergency-relief/world-hunger/http://www.hawaiifoodbasket.orghttp://www.wfp.orghttp://www.worldhunger.org/index.htmlhttp://www.foodandnutrition.org/September-October-2013/7-Top-Hunger-Organizations/www.sharefaith.comblog.unyanet.orgwww.riceselect.comhttp://westhawaiitoday.com/news/local-news/hmsa-bringing-blue-zones-hawaiihttp://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140909005202/en/HMSA-Healthways-Launch-Blue-Zones-Project®-Improve#.VYAGxsZWa0thttp://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/news/2014/12/19/hawaii-medical-service-association-sets-out-make.htmlhttp://info.bluezonesproject.com/blue-zones-project-hawaii