Research Opportunities Concerning the Causes and Consequences of Child Food Insecurity and Hunger Workshop Summary (2013) / Chapter Skim
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6 Community Responses to Food Insecurity and Hunger
6 Community Responses to Food Insecurity and Hunger
Pages 62-75
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From page 62... ...
Katherine Alaimo, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, was the principal speaker. She provided a brief history of community food programs, reviewed the contributions of community food programs to address food insecurity as can be determined from the research literature, and concluded by suggesting areas for further research.
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From page 63... ...
In other words, a rights-based approach necessitates facilitating social and economic structures that enable people to acquire 2For example, the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) was autho rized by Congress in 1981 to fund states to store and distribute surplus food commodities to those in need; TEFAP enabled food banks to become a central part of food assistance throughout the United States (see http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd/programs/tefap/ [August 12, 2013]
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From page 64... ...
In 2007, the nonprofit Community Food Security Coalition, with 250 member organizations, adopted holistic measures as an approach for evaluating community food security projects. USDA recently used this approach to evaluate the Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program by specifying six goals for community food security: justice and fairness, strong communities, vibrant farms and gardens, healthy people, sustainable ecosystems, and thriving local economies.
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From page 65... ...
Also, Alaimo was not able to find any evidence that the emergency food system is improving household food security. The issue could be definitional, in that food security is defined in terms of having reliable and regular access to sufficient food.
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From page 66... ...
Perhaps people need other supports, she suggested, such as coupons for healthy food and nutrition education. Another initiative is improving choices or lowering prices at corner stores, such as the Philadelphia Healthy Corner Store Initiative funded by the Food Trust and other partners in Philadelphia.
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From page 67... ...
A related program is the SNAP Healthy Incentives Pilot Evaluation in Massachusetts, which is not specific to farmers markets but stretches SNAP dollars when they are used for healthy food choices at participating retailers.9 From a number of studies, she said it appears that coupons increase people's intention to eat and their intake of fruits and vegetables (see, e.g., McCormack et al., 2010)
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From page 68... ...
Also, SNAP benefits can be used to purchase seeds and plant starts. Urban agriculture programs capitalize on available assets in many struggling cities and give a voice and a way for citizens to take action for themselves in order to improve food security and nutrition for their families.
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From page 69... ...
She noted that strategies to improve income and wages are generally not emphasized in community food programs other than for growers. Growing food can supplement family food supply and income, yet very little research has been done on the household economic impact and food security status impact of most community food projects.
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From page 70... ...
Evaluation of the innovative strategies being used by the emergency food network would also be helpful, as well as expanding support for rights-based approaches and broadening the outcomes measured from programming and pounds of food to include food security and whole measures. Another of Alaimo's research suggestions is to determine how much food insecurity exists in the workforces of companies that donate food to the emergency food system.
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From page 71... ...
In fact, he cited one grant in the USDA Community Food Security Grant Program that was downgraded because one of the peer reviewers said that promoting SNAP promotes dependency. Even progressives, he said, have convinced themselves that community-based responses are better and 10Berg's presentation draws heavily on Berg (2013)
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From page 72... ...
Berg noted that the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, which he directs, spends substantial resources supporting communities and agriculture.11 The Coalition pioneered a community program that supported an agriculture project in which not only grant money, but also SNAP benefits were used to subsidize shares. It also has a program to use AmeriCorps members to support community gardens and does a lot of outreach to farmers markets.
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From page 73... ...
A major source of food for food banks, soup kitchens, and food pantries in America is government food provided under the USDA Emergency Food Assistance Program. The Federal Emergency Management Agency Emergency Food and Shelter Program,13 although cut back considerably, also provides food.
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From page 74... ...
Deborah Frank (Brandeis University) commented about Alaimo's question about the extent of food insecurity among the workers of donor companies.
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From page 75... ...
He said it would be very useful to conduct such research so that decision makers understand and are comfortable that there is a way to actually make these programs work and sustainable. Alaimo referred to an earlier point about learning from international studies and other countries, and suggested there may be lessons from the fair trade movement that would apply to the issue of sustainability of community food programs.
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