MANA Food Bank: A Case Study

Our country is experiencing a food poverty explosion. Five years ago, food banks were a rarity. Nowadays, there are over a thousand across the UK and the phrase “food bank” is accepted into everyday vocabulary. Thirteen million people are living below the breadline, that’s almost one in five people, and the numbers are continuing to rise drastically. The use of food banks is continuing to grow, and doctors say the amount of people living in food poverty in now an increasing public health issue. In 2013/14, the Trussell Trust estimated that over 20 million meals were given to people in food poverty by the growing network of food charities across our nation. Far more has to be done

After reading the extensive “The New Face of Hunger” (Tracie McMillan), my eyes became more open to the overall issue of hunger, faced by many people today. In a few words, I was absolutely shocked by the true meaning and examples provided of what exactly food insecurity is. Honestly speaking, when I hear the word “hunger” I think of a human who has no food, living on the streets. “The New Face of hunger” brought to my attention that food insecurity is much more than simply having no food. In fact, “In 2006 the U.S. government replaced “hunger” with the term “food insecure” to describe any household where, sometime during the previous year, people didn’t have enough food to eat” (The New Face of Hunger). Not only was I able to see the harsh

It was difficult to read that countless millions of federal dollars and many of our country's most successful efforts to halt the spread of childhood hunger and starvation have recently been withdrawn. And as a result, this problem of childhood hunger is not getting better but is actually getting worse. The most recent estimates compiled by the USDA in 1999 indicate that 36.2 million Americans live in food-insecure households, which means that their access to adequate and safe food is limited or uncertain. This too is very disturbing information.

So, why do fifteen million children in America face hunger every day? How does this happen? Many people are on food stamps, and they can be extremely helpful, but it is difficult to feed family with them. Food stamps provide only a dollar per person for each meal, according to the organization, Food is Power. More often than not, unhealthy, processed foods are a lot less expensive than nutritious, organic food, and because of this issue, many people on food stamps reach for less expensive junk food. Unquestionably, healthy foods can be very hard to find and expensive in places like food deserts. Food is Power found that thirty-three percent of Americans live in food deserts. Of course, public transportation helps families reach grocery stores, but it still can be a lengthy trip, and in rural and suburban areas, there can be little or no public transportation at all. These issues make it a struggle for parents to provide healthy food for their

Across the United States there is a growing about of the population that struggles with food insecurity and health disparities. Sometimes it is hard to believe that people in our own community struggle so much to get the proper nutrients for their families to live a healthy and active life. Although this problem is wide and continues to grow there is little going on the help the numbers decrease. With many different charity programs that help families get food, it does not completely bring down the numbers in the population who struggle from food insecurities. One of the main problems that relate to this struggle is the amount of poverty across America. The population that lives in poverty are more likely to have issues with unsecure food households due to the fact that they struggle to simply keep a roof over their head none the less keep the proper food

Imagine your stomach growling, a feeling of emptiness, fatigue, and an inability to concentrate. Most people would associate these feelings with hunger and eat. Unfortunately, many Americans do not have the luxury of eating because of living in poverty. According to the Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the number of people living in poverty rose from 31.6 million in 2000 to 36.5 million in 2006. The number of people living in households facing food insecurity rose from 31 million in 1999 to 35.5 million in 2006. More than 12 million of the people living in food insecure households were children (Labue, 2009). Food America (2017) reports:

In the United States, there is a substantial number of children that live below the federal poverty line and even more that live below twice the poverty line (Jackson, 2014). According to Jackson (2014), poverty and food insecurity are undeniably related and these children living below the federal poverty line are at risk for varying negative effects, such as delayed cognitive development and medical problems, that hunger can cause. There is a variety of nutritional policies that help these children as well as adults who live in economically disadvantaged and food-insecure households such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) (Jackson, 2014; Marx, Broussard, Hopper, & Worster, 2010). This program

The second part of Megan Carney (2015) focused on the various different food assistance programs and solutions for food insecurity. Across the country there are countless of organizations and programs that aim at assisting and improving food insecurity among marginalized communities. The truth of the matter is, that there are structural issues in the government that prevent individuals from making enough to support themselves and their families. It is hard to comprehend how the United States disagrees in recognizing food and its access to food as an inalienable human rights (Carney 2015). No one should be denied access to nutritious food.

America, known for its economic success, livestocks, and some of the world’s most fortunate people, still leaves us pondering with one question: who does such a vast amount of our population go hungry? Exploring hunger in parts of the United States, it all comes back to the same statistics: one-sixth of American’s don’t have enough to eat. In 2006 the U.S. government replaced “hunger” with the term “food insecure” to describe any household where, sometime during the previous year, people didn’t have enough food to eat. By whatever name, the number of people going hungry has grown dramatically in the U.S., increasing to 48 million by 2012. This is a fivefold jump since the late 1960s, including an increase of 57 percent since the late 1990s.

Within the United States, in 2014 we had 1 out of 7 children born into poverty (C., 2016). That is an outstanding amount of children starting life out with a disadvantage. Statistics show that the U.S. has higher poverty rates than other developed countries (O., 2014). When a child is born into poverty, they are faced with many challenges that people are not very cognizant of. Children living in poverty usually have trouble accessing proper healthcare, education, and nutrition. These simple things are taken for granted by most people, but all have a close relation to one’s wellbeing. When child’s health is poor and they are lacking adequate nutrition, they are more than likely going to struggle in school and potentially drop out. All in all, telling us at Uber that food insecurity is a serious problem that we plan on improving, starting in Dallas, TX.

The second major issue that contributes to the food insecurity in the District and the United States collectively is the lack of available jobs and jobs that do not provide a living wage; one that is enough that can cover all living costs. This is why many working adults are forced to work more than one job, take odd jobs for some extra cash, and even why students drop out of high school early; so they too can join the workforce to support their family or

For the nearly 13 million kids in the U.S. facing hunger, getting the energy they need to learn and grow can be a dayin, dayout challenge.Kids who don’t get enough to eat — especially during their first three years — begin life at a serious disadvantage. When they’re hungry, children are more

All over the world, children are struggling with food-insecurity, and some of those children could be right in front of you. Until one actually sees or hears about child hunger, many may not realize that it’s a problem. Many people might not know that this is a problem in Lubbock. As the 2016 chairman for Food 2 Kids, Kacee Hogg shared her thoughts on the program. She said, “I know that my children can walk into the pantry and they can pick out anything they want anytime, and sadly there’s a huge number of kids in Lubbock that are food-insecure and the thought of them going home on Friday and not knowing when their next meal would be is so sad to

Food insecurity is an issue faced by millions of Americans every day, and the biggest group affected by this are working families with children. Food insecurity is so big that the United States government have now recognized it and provided a definition for it. The United States government has defined food insecurity as a household level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food (USDA.gov). Food banks and anti-hunger advocates agree that some of the causes of food insecurity are stagnant wages, increase in housing costs, unemployment, and inflation of the cost of food. These factors and unemployment have cause food banks to see a change in the groups of people needing assistance. Doug O’Brien,

In 2014, a foundation called Feeding America did a survey on the people they serve and found that in order to stretch their food budgets 79% of them purchase inexpensive and unhealthy food in order to stay fed. This can seriously impact their health, because no matter the age, healthy bodies and minds require nutritious meals. In some cases, food insecurity can even lead to Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and obesity. These are just a few examples of why food insecurity is so harmful. Fortunately, there are many organizations, clubs, and foundations that are committed to ending hunger in America, and eventually the world. The first step to solving this problem is spreading information, and realizing just how dangerous food insecurity is, and who it affects. After learning these things, you may want to help and there are many ways to do that. I’m sure in the past, you've donated food to the annual canned food drive our school puts on, and that’s just one way you can contribute to solving this problem. There are many organizations that ask for donations and will put your money to great use, for example every dollar you donate to Feeding America will provide 11 meals for a child in need.If you don’t have food or money to donate, you can donate