Food Justice

organizations that directly try to help reduce food waste. One of these organizations, called the

During my second week of my community health hours, I was placed at River City Food Bank. River City Food Bank’s main goal is to lessen hunger in the Sacramento region by offering healthy food and assistance to vulnerable populations. They do not only provide healthy food but they also provide nutrition education and counseling. In addition, they provide diapers for babies and the older population. They also provide health services for mothers and assist them with contraceptives and other important education for their women daily life. Their mission is to help people from all ages, from homeless to the working poor and families who are struggling.

The topic I’m discussing is Hunger in the state of Texas. In Texas child food insecurity was at 27.6 percent. Also, one in six texans live in poverty. In 2002 15 percent of texans faced low food insecurity. Food insecurity reached 18.4 percent in 2012. Obesity is at 28.9 perecent the 12th highest in the whole country. Median household income is at 49.392 the 25th highest in the country. In 2011 there were 4,812,760 food insecure people in Texas. Texas's Child Food Insecurity Rate in 2011 was 27.6% which includes 1,849,060 children and places Texas 9th highest in child food insecurity in the United States. More than 6 billion dollars of funds are designated for hunger related programs in Texas went unused in 2010.In 2010, less than 70% of Texans who were eligible for a food program participated in the program.

Thesis Statement: The Houston Food Bank uses the efforts of volunteers as well as donations to support the reduction of hunger in the community.

Daily Bread Food Bank. (2010). Fighting Hunger. 2010 Profile of Hunger in the GTA. Retrieved

Food deserts are one of the biggest problems in society, as the authors of Food Justice bring up (Gottlieb & Joshi, 2010). In fact, Indianapolis is ranked worst in the nation for food deserts. So what is a food desert? A food desert is when places are left with the lack of availability of nutritious foods and high rates of poverty. Often times, these are known as grocery gaps because grocery stores move out of the area, normally located in low-income communities. It makes sense that they would move to make more profit, but it leaves those in the community left with essentially nothing. Also, most people living in a low-income community do not have access to transportation, so they cannot get to grocery stores that are outside of walking distance. This is why Gleaners, a local food justice organization, steps in and fills in places where grocery stores have left. The program that works to fix this is Mobile Pantries. As I will explore later, Mobile Pantries allows people who cannot reach grocery stores the ability to get nutritious foods they need. Mobile Pantries give people a sense of going to the grocery store and picking out healthy foods. While consumer choice is limited, as Patel mentions, Mobile Pantries still gives people healthy options (Patel, 2014). Gleaners is a part of the Food Justice Movement because while they are not changing consumer choice, they are providing individuals with the option of healthy foods and working to end hunger and obesity

All food should be available to all people. The concept of this is dwelled on in the article, “Food justice and Food retail in Los Angeles” by Mark Valliantos. Throughout the article, Valliantos maintains the notion that healthy food should be within everyone’s reach, yet inner cities are still suffering from shortages of fresh produce. To see this issue in action, Valliantos documented this reoccurring phenomenon in Los Angeles. The author gives a description of two areas within the city of Los Angeles, and how they are economically divided based on the amount of healthy produce one has at its disposal. He makes note of programs that already exist to help low income families receive healthy foods that they could not afford. He also

The social issue that they are addressing is poverty, hunger, and low income. A lot of people who are on disability, food stamps, and people with no jobs are the ones who receive from the food pantry. The Plain City food pantry impacts the community by providing for those who have no other support.

The non-profit organization that I chose for the semester project is Feeding America, a non-profit organization that consists of a network of food banks assisting food insecure people throughout the nation. What does a food insecure family look like in the United States? It is parents going without food in order to feed their children, it is families rationing food and skipping meals.

Hunger is a big social issue facing America today. According to (“Do Something.com”) 1 out of 6 people face hunger in the US. Also 49 Million Americans Struggle to put food on the table. America is the best country in world, we shouldn’t have so many people hungry. Many people have thought of fixing this problem but one company has found a way to help fix this problem, this company is Feeding America. They have been giving people food since 1979. They’ve helped out 46 million Americans. ( feedingamerica.org )

Thesis: Feeding America is a good non-profitable organization, that helps needing people eat and bringing them warmth and fresh food

Americans love to eat, but do we actually understand how to eat healthy? In today’s world, everyone wants to be healthy, nonetheless, it seems no one knows how. With the nutritional knowledge of present-day, society’s health should be getting better instead of worse. However, there are so many different ideas regarding food that the public may feel confused. Michael Pollan points out many worthy causes in his book In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto; he tends to overuse quotes and research and uses unseemly portrayals, but he also implements excellent information to make a valid argument.

Denny’s can impact childhood hunger in the US by working closely with food banks across the nation, creating food pantries, and creating community gardens in low income areas. Food banks collects food from many different sources and it also distributes its resources. Furthermore, creating a food pantry in high schools that are in low income areas can help families. Students who attend these high schools will also be from families who struggle with obtaining food. Moreover, students can come to the pantry and get some food for their families. In addition, a high school is a central location for numerous families. High schools Students can volunteer in expanding the food pantry, who will also work closely with the city’s food banks.

organization named Meals by Grace. The organization takes in food donations from local businesses and creates

Describe the program’s Theory of Change: The Salvation Army food pantry believes that though their programs that their clients would eventually in the long run become educated on resources and knowledge that would help them overcome poverty. The food pantry provides monthly food services and other resources for clients. From those their hope is to provide low income families, individuals with one hot meals for families of 4-5 people a month. They also hope to offer other recourses that could be hindering families from saving enough money to buy groceries every month. Their end goal is to improve food insecurity in the community.