Greetings and Salutations!
For this week, we will be
focusing on something a little different from previous weeks. We will be
discussing food insecurities and their impact in the U.S. Obviously food
insecurity is a HUGE issue and there are many ways in which we can discuss it.
However, for the purpose of this presentation, we will predominantly be
focusing on these three components that attempt to address food insecurity:
food assistance programs, free and reduced lunch in schools, and food bank’s
accessibility. In doing this, we will also be showing some parts from the
documentary A Place at the Table (2013) in class as we found many parts
of this movie pertinent to what we want to talk about and hope it will add to
and drive our discussion. Possible discussion questions to consider when answer
this post are bolded. Y’all can pick and choose what you want to focus on or
what you’re most interested in. We included a lot so don't feel pressured to
answer all of them, but, of course, you are welcome to if you would like!
Food insecurity, according to the USDA, is defined as “a lack of
consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.” Since
the year 2016, 1 in 8 Americans are food insecure, which equates to 42 million
Americans with 13 million of them being children. That’s a lot of hungry people
that do not have adequate access to food. According to the Department of
Agriculture, “It is important to know that hunger and food insecurity are
closely related, but distinct, concepts. Hunger refers to a personal, physical
sensation of discomfort, while food insecurity refers to a lack of available
financial resources for food at the level of the household.” Thus, due to many
not having access to what they need to meet their basic needs, they face an
increased risk of being food insecure. A point that this website brings into
the public’s attention is how poverty and food insecurity in the United States
are closely related. They have provided a pyramid that demonstrates the four levels of food
security and describes the range of household’s experiences in accessing enough
food. When looking at the pyramid they show the different food security ranges.
Noticed how each description is associated to eating patterns. This is
available in the link below.
In Kalamazoo County, the food insecurity rate is 14.2%, which
means 36,680 people are food insecure in the county. Below is a link to a page
where y’all can look at how food insecurity affects the places where you are
from and compare it to Kalamazoo’s situation.
This also brings us to our first question: How do we define
hunger?
FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAMING
The major food assistance program in the U.S. is the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), otherwise known as food stamps. SNAP bases
eligibility chiefly on household income and size. On this (https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligibility#Am%20I%20eligible%20for%20SNAP?)
webpage on SNAP benefits under the “What are SNAP income limits,” there is a
chart displaying income limits according to household size. As you can see from
the chart and as we will see in the documentary, these limits make it very hard
for many people to qualify for food assistance through SNAP, which reveals a
gap in which many people make too much money to qualify for the program while
also making too little to maintain food security in their homes. If we look
specifically at Michigan’s eligibility requirements, which are provided on this
web page (https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/0,5885,7-339-71547_5527_6691---,00.html), we can
see that other limitations exist. For example, asset limits are also a concern
when determining eligibility in Michigan and assets can only equal up to
$5,000. So, something like a household owning more than one car can be seen as
reasoning to not qualify. Also, in order to receive SNAP, one must also be a
U.S. citizen, which excludes many undocumented people from food assistance.
What do you all think about these limitations? Is there a way we
could make programs such as SNAP more accessible for those who need it?
Another issue that exists with SNAP benefits is that they often do
not provide enough for families to purchase foods that allow them to maintain a
healthy and nutritional diet. If families are food insecure and need to stretch
their SNAP benefits, they often have no choice but to buy cheaper foods, which
are not always the healthiest. In our research, we found that some studies
concluded that obesity is correlated with those who participate in the program.
Some critics of the SNAP program see this as reasoning to end the program
altogether, but what we and many others argue is that this is an issue that
needs to be addressed when forming policy because, while SNAP may be inadequate
in some ways, we still should not ignore the fact that it helps many families
who are food insecure and is one of our strongest defenses against hunger in
the U.S.
What do you all think about this? How can it be made so that SNAP
participants have more access to healthier foods and produce?
The last thing we want to talk about concerning SNAP is the new
changes to the program that are currently being discussed.
Earlier this year, the Trump Administration’s 2019 budget, in an
attempt to reduce the cost of the SNAP program, proposed replacing half of
participant’s SNAP benefits with food boxes, or “America’s Harvest Box.” This
box would include government picked, non-perishable foods, that are “made up of
‘100 percent U.S. grown and produced food’ and would include items like
shelf-stable milk, peanut butter, canned fruit and meats, and cereal.” These
boxes would be delivered monthly in place of SNAP benefits. Below are a few
articles talking about this proposed change:
Another change that is being proposed in the Trump
Administration's Farm Bill is for there to be stricter demands for work
requirements in order to qualify for SNAP. The farm bill in general is expected
to decrease the SNAP budget by 20 billion over the next 10 years, which will
result in many being pushed out of the program or receiving reduced benefits.
SNAP policy currently already has work requirements in place, as any adults
aged 18-49 who are abled bodied have to work at least 20 hours a week to qualify
for SNAP. This proposal extends the requirement to people aged up to 59, asks
for proof of work on a monthly basis, and will increase the weekly requirement
to 25 hours a week by 2026. If participants fail to meet these requirements or
do not provide proof of work monthly, they will be cut from the program for a
year and possibly longer if there are repeated violations. Below is an article
that talks more about this proposed change.
So, after reading all this, what are your thoughts on these
changes? How will these proposals, if accepted, strengthen or weaken the
programs goal in addressing food insecurity and hunger?
FREE AND REDUCED MEALS
IN SCHOOL
The Food and Nutrition
Service (FNS) administers several programs such as the National School Lunch
Program, which is responsible for free and reduced meals. This program provides
nutritionally balanced, low-cost, or free lunches to children each school day.
If you receive SNAP benefits, all of your children who attend school
automatically qualify for free school meals. Eligibility guidelines are based
on the Federal income poverty guidelines and are stated by household size.
For the purpose of this presentation, we will be focusing on the role of
school lunch on children. According to an article from the Union of Concerned
Scientists, they quote: “Healthy school lunches can be a key factor in breaking
this cycle by improving kids’ diets. Children consume about half of their daily
calories at school; for low-income children, school lunch may be their only
real meal of the day. And the foods kids eat at school influence their lifelong
eating habits.” That being said, Free and reduced-price (FRP) meal participants
continued to eat more fruits and vegetables than their non-FRP peers. On the
other hand, previous studies and the documentary we will be showing in class
highlight how schools often do not have the money or resources to provide
children with both enough food and food that is nutritional, which can lead to
health conditions, such as obesity and G6PD deficiency.
So what do you think about the notion of
free and reduced lunch meals in schools? How can these programs be changed for
the better? How can we ensure children are getting proper nutritional value
from school lunches?
FOOD BANK’S ACCESSIBILITY
Outside of SNAP benefits,
food banks act as food storage and distribution depots that collect and
distribute food to hunger-relief charities. All food banks rely on donors and
volunteers to carry out their day-to-day operations. In addition, food banks do
not give out food directly to people struggling with hunger. Instead, they
deliver them to food pantries who then provide food directly to those in need.
The food that is received by pantries come from food banks only once they
become an agency member in that bank’s network. Usually, food pantries are
typically managed by churches. In the state of Michigan, there are seven food
banks under the Feeding America organization. Near the Kalamazoo County, there
is only one food bank, located in Battle Creek. When googling food pantries
near the city of Kalamazoo, a lot of them are facilitated by churches or
religious institutions, such as the Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes. To check on
the local food banks from your home this is link below.
In A Place at the Table,
they discuss the nutritional value of the food that food banks distribute.
Since these foods often need to be imperishable, contents usually include
canned or packaged foods, and do not contain fruits, vegetables, or other
produce.
What are your opinions on
the amount of food banks and food pantries around Kalamazoo? How did you react
on the number of food banks around your home area? Where there more than
one food bank in the state you live in?
Lastly, we also wanted to
bring up the stigmatization that occurs from receiving benefits from any of the
three areas we discussed in this post. How might this stigmatization effect
participants in these programs/benefits? How might it deter people from wanting
to apply for them?
We are looking forward to
your comments for Thursday’s discussion!
--Logan Smith and Yajaera
Ramirez
