Hunger
America's New Needy
Published October 01, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
Imagine this:
Six months ago you are standing in line at the grocery store, flipping through a trashy celebrity magazine while on your way to pick up your kids at soccer practice. Your new SUV is outside in the parking lot. You are the model of the American middle-class--a large and increasingly diverse group of self-reliant families and individuals.
Now, flash forward to the present. You're standing in line at the local food pantry, looking at everyone standing around you, wondering how in the world things got so bad.
For many of Americans, the scenario above is not a dream (or rather a nightmare). It is instead an unfortunate reality that is just starting to be dealt with by hunger activists and organizations dealing with what can only be called the nation's "new needy."
NYC to Get FRESH Supermarkets
Published September 24, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
In the spirit of National Food Desert Awareness month, yesterday morning, the New York City Department of City Planning voted unanimously in favor of an initiative that will bring fresh fruits, vegetables and other all-too-rare perishable goods to some of the city's most under-served residents.
The Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (or FRESH) program will give various zoning and tax incentives to retail companies that open supermarkets in designated communities throughout the five boroughs.
For example, new stores that meet the FRESH eligibility requirements will be given sales tax exemptions, real estate tax reductions and be required to provide less parking than is mandated for other retail food operations by the city's zoning laws.
Incomes Up 14% through Opportunity NYC
Published September 22, 2009 @ 10:03AM PT
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is hosting the Organization of American States today to discuss anti-poverty initiatives in the Americas. Featured at the meeting with be the City of New York's Opportunity NYC, a program of conditional cash transfers to low-income families to reward them for specific behaviors: attending school, attending doctor's appointments, working full-time, etc. The Bloomberg Administration, which launched the initiative as one of many anti-poverty programs managed collectively through its Center for Economic Opportunity, has renewed the program for a third year.
The program is both promising and controversial for providing what many deem paternalistic incentives that isolate behavior as the reason households are poor. I agree. But let's face it: Opportunity NYC is increasing annual household incomes by as much as 14% per year. Do we really want to condemn such a result?
Target Takes Food Stamps
Published September 21, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
So many Americans are now using food stamps that more and more chain stores have begun accepting them, rather than lose these customers to economic hardship. New or expanded recipients include Target, CVS, 7-11, Costco, BJ's and Sam's Club.
Food stamp use was up 22% this summer from 2008, with more than 35M Americans using them. Food stamps now come on a card identical to a debit or credit card, offering discretion and privacy for Americans self-conscious about relying on public assistance. For businesses, Costco finds that food stamp users spend an additional $50 or so on purchases not covered by the benefit.
There's a message in here about economic hardship becoming mainstream, becoming normal. I'm trying to generalize it to an ideal world where one is not punished for being poor, where a low-income parent can stand in line at the grocery store without a sense of shame - that she's even at the better grocery store rather than an overpriced bodega or food bank is an accomplishment. (Of course, see the original link above to understand transportation issues.)
Expanded food stamp acceptance at more stores is one of these situational responses that becomes permanent. From the sound of it, businesses have to invest in some degree of technological or process change to accept these cards. These are likely not upgrades that will be rolled back once the recession really lifts. As anti-poverty activists, we should be thinking about emergency services and about long-term changes we can push through during moments of crisis. Yes, we've got to expand eligibility for food stamps so all the many million more bellies don't go hungry, but if there was ever a moment to update the poverty measure to reflect the costs of housing, health care or decline in wages - It's Now.
No Food, No Justice
Published September 17, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
Although he is known as the father of the agricultural "Green Revolution" in places like Mexico, India, Africa and Southeast Asia, the message that Dr. Norman Borlaug spread throughout his life--which unfortunately ended on September 12, 2009--is one that Americans must also take heed of.
While accepting his Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, Borlaug referred to an adequate supply of food as the "first essential component of social justice." Or in other words, as the one thing every country must ensure its citizens in order to truly be a civilized society.
In the U.S., there is a need to frame food (in)security as more of a social justice issue, rather than making the struggle to feed oneself simply about who has the money to purchase quality food and who does not.
We live in a country where the rate of obesity in our population is rapidly catching up to the number of citizens living in constant fear of going hungry. While these two conditions may appear to be distinct, the common thread weaving these groups together is lack of financial resources.
Yuppie Foodies and Hungry Children
Published September 10, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
On Labor Day this past Monday, Slow Food USA kicked off its new Time for Lunch campaign by staging "eat-ins" in various cities across the United States.
The purpose of these events, as well as the campaign in general, is to raise awareness about the need to increase healthy food in schools by reauthorizing the Child Nutrition Act before the legislation expires at the end of September.
The message of this campaign is right, but the image and the branding are completely wrong.
Slow Food--although being an organization whose mission I support--is the epitome of the yuppie-foodie groups, a pay-to-play network of gazpacho sipping gastro-enthusiasts.
Do Something: September is Hunger Action Month
Published September 03, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
Feeding America, the nations largest hunger relief charity, is reminding everyone to "Give a little, Feed a Lot" this September during Hunger Action Month.
I think that this sort of campaign is a great call to action. Many of us have really great intentions of volunteering or donating goods, but often lose this philanthropic drive in the bustle of everyday life. We should think of others all the time, but it's nice having a little reminder to do so.
There are lots of events and activities being organization by Feeding America this month (you can find ones close to you by clicking here), but really, there are so many actions you can take on your own to feed needy residents in your community.
