Under the Median: A Community Approach to Ending Food Insecurity

I recently attended a half day symposium on food insecurity and ongoing efforts in my community to insure that healthy food is available to everyone.

Author, Andy Fisher, co-founder of the Community Food Security Coalition, and keynote speaker at the "What's Our Recipe" half day seminar, puts the percentage of US households dealing with food insecurity issues, at 11.8%. This number seems pretty low, until you realize that statistic represents 1 in every 10 households in America.

What is "food insecurity"?

Food insecurity is, very simply, the physical lack of enough food in a home and the absence of monetary resources to purchase more. As far as my limited research could tell, food insecurity does not really include any measures of the nutritional nature of the food being provided for yourself, your partner or spouse, or your children. In other words, there are no markers to designate or differentiate between eating a Standard American Diet or choosing a healthier whole foods plant based diet.

In 2006, the USDA developed a new sub-set of four standards to describe food insecurity, ranging from "high food security" to "very low food security".

Does your family suffer from food insecurity?

Want to see how the USDA would characterize your family food patterns? Here's a PDF of the forms and questions they use to determine food insecurity.

I took the survey and discovered that our family is considered to be mildly affected by food insecurity, not because there is not enough food available, but because our lean budget somewhat limits the types of food and total amount which can be purchased each month.

What does all this have to do with living Under the Median?

Plenty!

Although no one person is immune from the possibility of experiencing hunger in their lifetime, the statistics skyrocket when you begin looking at those who make a less-than-average income. The lower your income, the greater percentage of the total money available in your budget must be spent on food.

Using my family as an example, even though we have lived above the poverty level (but, for the most part, beneath the national median), most years we have had to allocate more than the generally suggested 10-15% guideline for food.

USDA Guidelines

Following the instructions on the USDA website, I calculated the "thrifty" food budget for our family of five. It was just over $764.00 monthly. I find that number to be astronomically high! Seriously! I cannot imagine having that much money to spend on groceries! It would, in fact, be well over 20% of our income.

I, apparently, have an unbelievably low monthly grocery budget of just over $400 for five people. In fact, my actual budget numbers are $450 per month total for both food and household items like shampoo and toilet bowl cleaner.

What does food insecurity look like?

As I, along with my two junior sous chefs, listened, Andy Fisher painted a picture of the face of hunger as a reflection of two major factors:

Poverty
A lack of political power

I don't think any of us would argue the validity that living from month-to-month on a budget which does not provide enough resources to provide basic food, clothing, and shelter would be devastating on a number of different levels. One is often faced with a series of seemingly untenable choices, when money is that tight.

So, what are we to do?

Fisher suggests a combination of labor, hunger, and environmental groups to spearhead programs, designed to reach out to the needy and offer viable solutions and a virtual ladder out of poverty.

Partnership for a Healthy Community

Partnership for a Healthy Community is a committee, comprised, at the time of this writing, of twenty local organizations. After receiving a $40,000 grant, the search committee quickly assembled a dedicated group of volunteers, who were then empowered to hit the ground running.

Project #1: Cooking Matters Program

The Cooking Matters Program represents the premier voyage of group's efforts. They set out to discover why people eat the way they eat. Survey participants most often cited "time" as being one of the major reasons that they felt the goal of eating healthy was difficult for them to achieve.

After synthesizing the results, a committee of local nutrition and outreach specialists decided to focus on:

offering WIC Education

utilizing a toolkit for making nutritional changes

sponsoring worksite wellness events

Project #2: Increased Healthy Food Options

This second committee was formed by a combination of local medical and social service professionals. Their target is to increase the inventory, options, and availability of healthy food in our community.

What does this mean for you?

I recognize that I have readers from all over the globe. No matter where you live, you can search for a group with whom to align yourself. You can help make an impact in your community. You can help end hunger. Remember, not all help is monetary. No matter your personal income, you have something to give.