Hello class, I am so, so overjoyed to wake up to the sound of
birds chirping and to be able to walk outside without my skin drying up and my
nose chapping. Finally, Spring has Sprung and the whole campus can breathe
again.
The topic I am working on is food insecurity and solutions that
can work to meet the needs of food insecure people. The solutions we will think
about aren't simply “band-aids” to a crisis that is very present in the
Kalamazoo community, but they are long term goals that can put food banks out
of business. I am taking what I learned at my internship at Kalamazoo Loaves
and Fishes and asking you guys to contribute the ways in which we can envision
a community that has tangible long term solutions.
The band-aid effect is an approach to societal issues that mask
instead of solve the crisis at hand. The name stems from the purpose of a
band-aid, to cover up a wound but not fix it. This effect is essentially how
emergency food services began. The emergency food service model, which arose in
the 1980’s, makes clear the structure of providing emergency food is self
perpetuating food insecurity in communities throughout the country.
Using the band-aid approach to food insecurity temporarily
satiates a hungry family, but when the band-aid peels off, the feeling of
hunger will creep back with no long term solution in the making. This causes a
system that keeps people living in a cyclical state of dependence. There is no
simple answer or approach to the crisis of hunger in the community.
To begin, Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes (KLF) (http://kzoolf.org/) is West Michigan’s
largest charitable food bank. I had an internship there in Summer 2018, and it
left me feeling more confused than when I entered.
To preface, I will share a small story: It was August 2017. After
moving out of my boyfriends parents house, leaving a full time summer job,
paying first month's rent, paying tuition and being in between health
insurances I was faced with the challenge of not being able to afford
groceries. This is not an unusual place to be, and many have been in my shoes.
Yet, it was a very embarrassing place to be, considering that I had for the
most part been fully financially supporting myself, and at times, my parents
since 16. I saw a flier for free groceries at a location that was not far from
my new place of residency in Kalamazoo. Picking up the free groceries was
fairly quick process, my first experience with KLF is similar to that of the
majority of clients who utilize the free grocery services. They are people who
are struggling to make ends meet, but the additional help with free groceries
can pull people out of a place of struggle, or keep people afloat in periods of
transition. I have not needed to utilize KLF since, but I have referred several
friends who were in similar positions to the services that KLF provides.
-Report on Hunger on Campus: The study sample includes 3,765 students in 12 states attending eight community colleges and 26 four-year colleges and universities. https://studentsagainsthunger.org/hunger-on-campus/
-Report on Hunger on Campus: The study sample includes 3,765 students in 12 states attending eight community colleges and 26 four-year colleges and universities. https://studentsagainsthunger.org/hunger-on-campus/
However, in Summer of 2018, my experience was so positive with KLF
that I decided to take a Community Building Internship and complete an
experimental research SIP at KLF. Going into it, I had no personal quarrels
with the concept of emergency charitable food services, but by the time I left
I felt a complicated relationship to KLF and other charitable food services
postionalities to communities. I will spend class time going over some models/
research I gathered at my internship at KLF.
History
of Emergency Charitable Food System’s:
Andrew Fisher the author of “Big Hunger: The Unholy Alliance
Between Corporate America and Anti-Hunger Groups” highlights just how popular
the charitable food system has become in the late twentieth and early
twenty-first century. In the book, he pinpoints actions and communications of
groups and individuals involved in the anti-hunger field and how American
society organizes to define and address a wicked social problem.
To Fisher, in order to combat hunger, there must be a mass reframing of the overall anti-hunger field. He suggest the concept of the three legged stool, which creates an integrated field in which the success of the anti-hunger field sits. Each leg stands for economic justice, healthy individuals, and democratic food systems. He believes that if the three legs model is integrated, then there is an ability to fully address food insecurity, but if one of the legs of the stool becomes weak, the stool will topple and the ability to resolve the root causes of hunger will collapse.
Here are some other ways that people are addressing food insecurity on their campus/ in their community:
- This is a article about how Kalamazoo Valley Community College is addressing food insecurity on campus: https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2019/03/new-program-to-provide-local-produce-grocery-items-to-students-at-kalamazoo-valley.html
Some questions to start our conversation on Wednesday:
1) There are many factors contributing to today’s food security crisis. For example, How is climate change having an impact?
2) Might there be a connection between food prices and the rise or fall of of poverty?
3) https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RBYVDG6 I made a survey monkey with 8 brief questions... please take it as it will help guide the classroom conversation! :) The responses will be anonymous.
1) I think our current climate change crisis is directly affecting the world’s food security crisis. Knowing that around the world we are suffering from water and drought related issues causing a massive migration of peoples who are unable to grow their own crops. As entire areas once used for crop production are no longer viable for crop production, we must decide as a community on this planet what actions we must take to address drought and water crises in order to continue to sustain our growing population if we are to reduce and hopefully eliminate inadequate nutrition and starvation.
ReplyDelete2) I don't know much about the connection between food prices and poverty rates, but I would like to assume that food prices and poverty have a positive relationship. As food prices increase each year the number of individuals at or below the poverty line also increases. Those at or below the poverty line either have limited or no access to fresh produce with one of the main causes being the price of such foods. Organic foods are much more costly than non-organic making it difficult for such individuals to afford them. It is often a choice between buying 1/3 the amount of food if organic/fresh or more food that will last longer and feed the entire family. I am speaking from personal experience in which my family was on food stamps for many years, existing on only 40 dollars each member a week for food. It is impossible to sustain oneself on only 40 dollars a week if you are to strictly buy fresh and organic foods that are often double or three times the cost of non-organic foods.
I'll try question 1:
ReplyDelete-The most direct consequence of climate change here and now is that it is rendering our climate patterns less predictable. We've all seen somewhere this 'quick fact', for example, that most of our hottest years on record have occurred in the last 20. Given how our agricultural systems, despite their modern automation, still depend on regular natural cycles, triggers, stimuli, or whatever you call them, in order to function properly, this increase in erratic patterns is not good. Of course, our well-established food systems might be suffering inconvenience (I know this is an understatement), but marginal and less-secure agriculture around the world is in far greater danger.
1.) This is an issue I have not thought too much about. Although I know that climate change has the potential to be devastating for food security, I have not witnessed this (maybe due to living in the mid-west), and if climate change was having a direct impact, it seems it would be causing food prices to rise dramatically. This might make it so that the poorest communities are less able to afford food but I have not noticed explicit rising trends for most food prices. While this seems like something that could very well happen in the future, I have not noticed it at present (in the U.S./ midwest/ etc.)
ReplyDelete2.) A connection between rising food prices and poverty seems to make sense. However, other variables should also be taken into account such as government assistance programs, housing prices, healthcare, etc..
1) With a changing climate, growing seasons have become more unstable. A good example of this is the recent drought in California. A lack of rain not only leads to potential crop failure, but also to other disasters like wildfires and the erosion of fertile topsoil. Aside from growing desertification in many areas of the world, we also see an increase in number and intensity of tropical storms/hurricanes, flooding, and even snow storms (like in Michigan). Addressing these problems will require a combination of efforts including (but not limited to) reducing greenhouse gas emissions, restructuring agricultural structures in a way that promotes ways of farming that preserve the integrity of the environment, and finding more efficient and equitable food distribution methods. This may not look the same everywhere. For example, the type of food that is suited to be grown and distributed in one region may not be the same as in another region, so this would require a strong collaborative effort within individual communities as well as broader overarching structures.
ReplyDelete2) I do not know much about economics, but it makes sense to me that levels of poverty and food prices would have some kind of connection. In the capitalist framework, food is seen as a privilege: if you work hard you earn money and can buy food, if you work harder or better, you earn more money you can buy better quality food. I hope everyone here can see the flaws in this way of thinking. Nutrition is life, and to deny anyone good nutrition is to deny them a quality life. Ideally, we need a system that gives everyone access to quality food as well as providing farmers a quality life for their hard work. I just don't know how we go about that. If anyone has any ideas, please share!
I very much appreciate you sharing your story with us, it is important to honor personal experiences and be reminded that these issues are close to home for many of us.
ReplyDelete1.) What immediately comes to mind in the connection between food insecurity and climate change are increased drought and extreme weather patterns. These droughts or extreme weather events can devastate an entire season's crop. With this change in overall climate comes the need for species, food crops alike, to adapt rapidly to these changing conditions or they will become extinct, further contributing to biodiversity loss.
2.) I am not well versed in economics and the interplay between food prices and poverty, I am so excited to learn more in your presentation! However, what does comes to mind is that if crops are hard to grow/ transport and the cost of growing that crop increases, so will the price. That increase in price would that make that food unattainable for some or impact those in poverty more than those in higher income brackets.
Having volunteered at Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes, your comments were super interesting for me to read. I had never really thought of food banks as "band-aids" before, but from your comments and connecting some of the dots, I realized they really only satisfy short-term needs. My responses aren't direct answers to your questions, but instead a representation of a few of my thoughts on the topic, using the question as a starting point. :)
ReplyDelete1) In thinking about the Kalamazoo area, I wonder if many people really think about climate change and its effect when their more pressing needs are food. I remember when sorting through the donated food at KLF that the selection was limited and often not necessarily nutritious--basically the things that people had left in their cupboards and decided to get rid of. Circling slightly back towards climate change, thinking about all that donated food as almost "waste", much like the waste that contributes to climate change, it only plasters over the problem, seeming to fix a problem with a much deeper source (like climate change).
2) As for the connection between food prices and poverty...there is likely a connection, but I think many times food prices lead to another barrier towards healthier diets. Cheap foods tend to be easier and simpler to prepare (why chop vegetables when you can buy them on a frozen pizza), and thus easier for people to access--taking less thought and effort. Also I think some people just don't care about nutrition as much, sticking to the foods they are familiar with. I guess my conclusion is that food prices going up tends to have a larger effect on nutritional choices, which also is likely correlated with poverty. I'd be interested to know if they are more than just a correlation and know the factors that actually contribute to the causation (and how to address them!).
The survey made me realize how blessed I am to have been able to live in my parents house with a stable income. When I shopped for myself overseas I regulated what I bought to make sure it lasted long enough, but I knew I could go to the store or ask friends for help if I was really struggling. The fact that there were stores with affordable fresh produce near me when I lived in a town in the desert where you would think there would be a fresh food scarcity (likely a result of the milder climate), but also showed how that particular country (Israel) valued nutrition. (Sidenote: I knew a guy who was doing research and experiments on how to grow vegetables and fruits in greenhouses with minimal water/resources--in Israel we often got peppers and lemons from them!)
1) So, climate change of course threatens agricultural systems and those disruptions can definitely have an effect on food security for many people. But given that current dominant agricultural systems are designed to create conditions of food insecurity for certain segments of the world's population, there are also opportunities within the disruption of these systems for new systems to arise that could actually increase food security and sovereignty for currently disenfranchised people. For example, check out this article about a response to the devastation of hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico that is working to make the island more food secure than it was before the hurricane hit: https://civileats.com/2018/10/19/agroecology-as-a-tool-of-sovereignty-and-resilience-in-puerto-rico-after-hurricane-maria/
ReplyDeleteSo as we prepare for climate change, how do we build networks of flexible, resilient, food sovereign communities that can produce and share food during times of extreme weather events?
2) This is really complex and since I'm not an economist I don't know that I can speak directly to the link between food prices and poverty. What I know right now is that the low price of milk is driving a lot of farmers into poverty! So perhaps there are folks who are not farmers who have a little extra disposable income right now because they are paying a few cents less for milk each week, but this article describes some of the impact on farmers: https://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/dairy-farmers-are-crisis-and-it-could-change-wisconsin-forever
A few years back, author Micheal Pollan (author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma, among other things) spoke in Kalamazoo and I remember him getting the question "How can we make local, organic food more affordable for people who have lower incomes?" His answer: create an economic system in which everyone gets paid a living wage. He pointed out that food insecurity and the lack of affordable good food is not fundamentally an agricultural problem; it's an economic problem. How do we create a just food system inside a fundamentally un-just economic system? I don't know if that's possible. And if that isn't possible, then what are the alternatives?
1) There are many factors contributing to today’s food security crisis. For example, How is climate change having an impact?
ReplyDeleteThis question is becoming more and more relevant as time passes. This issue is manifesting in a variety of ways. In my own experience, I remember working in a community in Oaxaca where the rains are coming later and later, substantially harming the subsistence farmers in the area. The main staple in the area is corn, which suffered greatly from water deprivation. This trend will only get worse as we continue to generate power and capital at the current scale.
2) Might there be a connection between food prices and the rise or fall of poverty?
I don't have a background in this, but that seems like a logical step in this capitalist system. Is there a chance that we will talka bout urban farming and its impact on community? It seems like something similar to what you have written above, but a different approach. Are they all band-aids? What does urban farming offer that other organizations don't, and vice versa?
Thank you for sharing your story!
1) In thinking about this question, I am immediately drawn back to the film that we watched for class and the complications that climate change brings in relation to seeds. Should seeds disappear or be destroyed or no longer be self-reproducing, I would assume that this directly affects access to food, especially for people who are already disenfranchised within the system. That being said, I'm interested to hear your presentation and think more about the nuances of this issue!
ReplyDelete2) Again, I am not well-versed in this topic but I would assume so, yes. That seems to be the heart of capitalism, as some folks have previously mentioned. Not only do food prices affect access to food in general, but they also influence the kinds of food that people can afford to buy, and the food we put in our bodies directly affects one's health and (as I would understand it) can reinforce the rise or fall of poverty in that way. But again, looking forward to thinking more about these connections. Thank you!
1) I agree there are a lot of factors related to food insecurity. Climate change is an excellent example of a problem that could really threaten our food sources in the future (and in many ways currently is). I think that a more pressing issues however is our economic system. The world currently produces more food than is necessary to sustain human life on this planet, and tons of food goes to waste... yet people are still dying from starvation? I think that our current form of capitalism is the primary contributing factor to food insecurity.
ReplyDelete2) To the relative price of food, yes, absolutely. To food prices in general I would say no. It is less about the actual price of food and more about how much food costs in comparison to other things with regards to peoples income. I don't feel like I am explaining this very well but there is a really cool chapter of 'The Town That Food Saved' that explores this. It mentions how if we are to switch away from an industrialized/ large food system to something more local (which the author argues that we should) food would 100% become more expensive... but that isn't necessarily a bad thing and it doesn't necessarily increase poverty.
1) In relation to climate change, I think that the food security crisis is a consequent effect of the such issue. Without a doubt, climate change is bringing a multitude of stress factors to our average citizens, such as problems with commuting to work, harsh weather for farming, irregularities with the local weathers and etc. One of the challenges that climate change raises is that it makes the lives of people who are in poverty even more difficult than it already is. These drastic variations in our climate make the economy less efficient, draining our physical energy as well as our overall wellbeing.
ReplyDelete2) The connection between food prices and poverty is a sad reality. For people that do not come from a wealthy family background, life is already set up in a way that there are so many daily obstacles you have to encounter. I would assume that food prices and poverty are in a positive linear relationship. People are poor and hungry because they spent the entire day working a 9-hour shift. With the limited amount of time and energy left, they make it to the grocery store and realize they had just spent their whole days’ worth of work on food, in addition to other expenses such as housing, utility, and etc. So YES! I think that there is a correlation food prices and poverty.
1. I think that food insecurity and climate change are inextricably connected. On a global scale, climate change is impacting our ability to produce food. Yet, at the same time, the ways in which food is being produced is exacerbating climate change. It’s a mess. I am also thinking about the role that food waste plays in food insecurity and climate change. With around 40% of the food that is produced being wasted, we are both depriving people and polluting the planet.
ReplyDelete2. I think that there is absolutely a connection between the food prices and the rise or fall of poverty. It is a logical conclusion that the higher the food prices, the fewer the people that will be able to afford the food. Keeping food at affordable prices is extremely important to ensure that everyone can afford to eat. The issue, I think, is that foods that are more affordable are also less nutritious. Families that cannot afford to buy high quality foods are faced with less healthy options and, down the road, more health problems. Additionally, we should consider that foods that are mass produced, or industrially produced, are those that are least expensive AND those that most negatively impact the environment.
ReplyDelete1. The first thing I thought of that had to do with climate change is how weather can have effects/delays on regular daily accessibility to healthy food. For example, how during the polar vortex here in Kalamazoo, we couldn’t leave or get to a grocery store. Additionally, depending on the weather, our bodies may need very different nutrients/sustenance that could or could not be available. Likewise, higher temperatures and changes in rainfall will have a very influential impact on yields.
2.I hadn’t started thinking about how weather could have an effect on prices of food crops in certain regions. Lower agricultural output will undoubtedly raise prices, causing the most vulnerable populations, those who have only a certain amount of money set aside for groceries, to take the blow.
What do you consider a healthy diet?
ReplyDeleteWhat I associate a healthy diet with is balance. I think eating whole foods inducing fruits, vegetables, beans, and certain grains for those that can eat gluten are necessary for a well balanced diet. I don't think junk food is necessary for a healthy balanced diet.
In my opinion it should be more difficult to accesses processed junk foods than it is to access fruits and vegetables, but in this country it is the options. Low income black and brown communities are now living in food deserts, most of the time leaving families to resort to local liquor stores selling only processed foods. It is almost impossible for some families to get the foods that they need to live a healthy life.
How might the environmental impact of certain food groups influence your current diet?
One of my goals is to eat 100% vegan for both health and environmental reasons. The more I learn about how the meat industry influences climate change, the more I consider making the change now. I’ve started to only eat meat at restaurants, and not cook it at home. Doing this has cut down my meat consumption by a lot. When I eat, I think about what I’m eating, where it came from, who was involved in getting to my plate, and how the environment was impacted. If I’m being honest, I don’t think about all of those questions every time I eat, but I am a lot more conscious about what I’m putting in my body and I’m more aware of different food
Production processes.
1)The first thing I think about when I think about climate change and food access is the pH of soils. When the soil cannot sustain the agricultural endeavor then nothing can happen. I am so worried about acidic rain and the way it impacts soil and our oceans. I worry extensively about deforestation and the growth of urban populations that decrease green space. I worry about climate change wiping our varieties, running out of water, and impacting the growth of things that dont require too much heat or too cold heat or that need specific conditions.
ReplyDelete2) Yeah I think that food has a lot to do with poverty. Aside from the access and relationship to food, so much of the foreign policy and subsidy policy that reigns in our country impacts our connection to food in very extreme ways.
1. From what I understand as climate change makes it more difficult to grow food, prices go up because production is slow or has trouble and that makes it difficult to afford it. So I do think they are interconnected.
ReplyDelete2. I think food is connected to poverty due to how difficult growing food is now that the people working are not getting paid enough and can not afford the high prices