Food Pantry

Fortunately there are programs that assist families in crisis and can help to feed the children of the United States; however the number of hungry children is growing. Child hunger in the United States has been described as an increasingly complex problem and has been called the “silent epidemic.” (Goldstein, 2009)

Resources needed to accomplish this project included permission and approval by the University of Minnesota director of public health, which included meetings and interactions with data system personnel to initiate the first roll-out of SNAP information in an email. Met with personnel at Second Harvest Food Bank and received information on the SNAP program, phone conversations with MDH to further clarify the SNAP process. The public health student that started the Nutritious U Food Pantry was contacted and interviewed. Internet services to explore grocery stores within walking distance of the campus were needed, along with investigation into public transportation availability. Spreadsheet to perform side-by-side food costs and comparisons were

Food stamps are an important component of low-income families’ monthly resources, increasing the chances that families are able to meet basic needs (Ratcliffe, McKernan & Finegold, 2008). This form of food relief dates back to the Great Depression when many Americans lost their jobs and did not have money to feed their families. People were starving while farmers produced abundant crop that could not be sold due to a lack of consumers with buying power (Dorsch, 2013). The Federal Surplus Relief Corporation which was a part of the Agricultural Adjustment Act, bought basic farm goods at low prices and distributed the among hunger relief agencies in different states and local communities (Congressional Digest, 2013).

Food Stamp is a government-funded program in the United States. This is a program that helps people buy food for their families; in other words, it is a very important program to families living in poverty. It is the nation’s most important program in the fight against hunger. This program was developed in the 1960’s; it is made to improve the nutrition level and food purchasing power of people with low-income. This program is offered to people who cannot afford to buy groceries for their families, regardless of age, color, sex or religion. Food Stamps can only be used to buy food items not hygiene or household items, and it’s offered only on a monthly basis.

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

For many individuals in our Vietnamese community whom grew up in Vietnam, they know what it is like to go hungry for several days due to being unable to buy food. In order to find a better lifestyle for their families, they immigrated to the United States. However, for many families in America, the feeling of hunger is becoming a common occurrence due to being food-insecure. The definition of food insecurity according to the American Institute of Nutrition is “the state of being unable to get reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food”. The holidays are supposed to be a time to celebrate, and to share a meal with others. But for a number of families, they’re met with a familiar feeling of hunger. This may cause them to suffer emotionally from being unable to feast at the holidays. Those that are not living on the edge of poverty will not understand how much financial pressure is put on vulnerable families as they relied on schools to provide free meals to their children. The Food & Nutrition Service (FNS) runs a program that covers a portion of low-income children with meals over their summer; there isn’t a national program that covers the holiday break. This puts additional stress on low-income families, as they have to find ways to provide food, along with getting their children cared for. Food insecurity

Also many of the impoverished people have SNAP benefits, but they do not have a grocery store near them to use these benefits at. The Social Work and Social Welfare textbook states that, “The average SNAP grant per household was $287, or $4.30 per person per day.” This means that most people really could not fully feed themselves while using SNAP. The researchers that conducted the study in this article interviewed and observed various different kinds of people in a rural county. The people they interviewed were of all different ages, had lived in the county for different amounts of time, and had different incomes. The researcher spent a long period of time volunteering at the rural food pantries to make relationships with the community members and to observe what challenges they are facing. After spending that time volunteering, they got volunteers to be interviewed using open-ended questions so that they could have a more complete understanding of the challenges of this food desert. A major finding in the study was that people with strong social ties in the communities did not have problems feeding themselves and keeping themselves

Many colleges and universities have utilized the food pantry approach. Food pantries are easier for campuses to utilize because of the ability to be flexible with the services rendered (Dubick., et al., 2016). Students can utilize the services without having to travel far, they are also more apt to use the services because it is a college program, not a community or public program. Seventeen percent of food insecure students utilized a campus food pantry, while 14 percent reported going to an off-campus food pantry or food bank (Dubick., et al., 2016). Traditional students are more apt to reside on campus and be aware of the services offered to them through their institution, they will also have the means to use the services provided without having to travel off campus. The student’s ease of access to food programs on campuses may not ease food insecurity, there is no research that indicates whether food pantries are effective in alleviating food

According to the USDA's Economic Research Service, the food-insecure are those families in America that at times didn't know whether they had or could find enough food to meet their needs. This was due to the lack of money or other resources, such as government assistance or community food banks (USDA ERS - Food Security in the U.S.). In it's most recent study, the Economic Research Service found that as of 2013, 80.5 percent of families in the U.S. were food secure, leavinf over 49 million people food-insecure (USDA ERS - Food Security in the U.S.). Of that 49 million, nearly 9 million children lived in food-insecure households (USDA ERS - Food Security in the U.S.).

In this commination class I have learned many ways to communicate my ideas through verity of concepts. Also, working in groups have enabled me to learn a lot and express my thoughts, and words. However, for my final project I have chosen to talk about an organization that many students are not aware that existed on campus. I used a multimedia art performance as my communication concept to communicate to students about the values of this organization, what it stands for, how impacted students on campus, and what it does.

In order to further support low-income communities and improve this population’s health the federal government needs to not only continue with the supplemental food programs they’ve already put in place, but enhance them by considering the barriers and address them. The government can intervene by integrating other components to the programs that further support people and help eliminate the main barrier by providing them direct access to grocery stores and healthier options. In order for government resources to be more effective in areas where there are limited grocery store options in the community, the government could begin by providing transportation services in areas where grocery stores are limited or if any at all. Providing transportation to those who are receiving government resources like WIC and SNAP would allow families to exhaust

Food banks provide prevailing economic need as a distribution outlet for the federal government (USDA), and national local food sources. Food banks serve and help create an infrastructure of member’s agencies, food panties that provide food directly to food insecure seniors and other food insecure populations, soup kitchens and relief organizations. Food banks networks provide food support for over 37 million Americans yearly including 14 million children and over 3 million older adults. As of 2015 there were over 15, 000 food pantries throughout the United States. The majority of seniors that use food banks receive some social assistance, over 41% lived alone, and over 22% of food bank recipients in food insecure senior households had sought help from food banks, soup kitchens, or other charitable agencies to feed themselves in the past year (AARP, 2014, p. 29-30).

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.

Have you ever wondered where you would rest your head at night? Where you would find your next meal? How would support your family given unforeseen sudden circumstances? I’ve never thought about the importance of these questions until a recent experience I had volunteering at a food pantry. There are organizations whose main purpose is to help those in need and provide resources to members of the community who are going through difficult times. A food pantry is a non-profit community serviced organization that provides members of the community with groceries and resources. From volunteering at this food pantry I learned more than ever to never “judge a book, by its cover”, or in other words, even though I person may look well put together on the outside, you never know what it is they are dealing with on the inside. I’ve encountered homeless members of the community, people who have suffered from physical abuse, and people who have experienced unexpected disasters such as house fires to expected job layoffs while volunteering at a food pantry. I’ve also come to appreciate everything that I have in my life from the roof over my head to the food in my stomach and that some people are less fortunate than me.

The 2015 Statistical Analysis Poverty Level Data report shows in the United States, there was an increase in which families’ are able to provide food per person within their household. After the devastating financial and economic crisis in 2008, families have been in financial detriment for years trying to maintain consistency in providing food, support, and shelter. Not until the government 2015 report, there were clear evidence of a sufficient rise in food surplus in low income families since 2008. According to the governmental statistical report, 14% of households were suffering from food deficiency. In other words, 17.5 million households, approximate one out of every seven homes could not provide nourishment on a regular basis. This estimate is down from the last statistical data recorded in 2011 at 14.9%.