Hunger lives among
us.
It could be your
80-year-old neighbor or the children across the street. It could be the veteran
who recently returned from combat or the single mom who works full-time and
struggles to make ends meet. The face of hunger looks like you and me.
In 2006, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) began focusing on "food insecurity" instead of "hunger." Food insecurity is defined as the lack of consistent access to enough
food for someone to live an active, healthy life. Food-insecure households are
not necessarily food-insecure all the time. Food insecurity may reflect a
household's need to make trade-offs between important basic needs, such as
housing or medical bills or buying healthy foods.
One in seven people
across the United States is food-insecure every day, and one in five children
experience food insecurity. In 2012, 60 percent of food-insecure Americans
lived in households with a full-time worker; another 15 percent lived in
households with a part-time worker. Food insecurity affects the most vulnerable
people in our communities.
What can I do to help combat food insecurity?
Helping your
neighbors and community achieve food security is a big undertaking, but
it can be done. Here are a few ways you can take action against food insecurity
in your community:
Get informed
Learn about hunger and
food insecurity in your community by contacting your local food shelf.
Educate others
Share what you learn
and help others understand the issue so they too can help.
Volunteer your time or talents
Start a community garden or plant an extra row in your own garden, and donate a
portion (or all) of the produce to a local food shelf.
Donate
Local food shelves are able
to multiply cash donations many times over due to bulk purchasing power. Your
cash donation is worth much more than you may think.
Host a healthy food drive
Collect
nutritious food for people who are hungry in your community. A healthy food drive not only helps provide
healthier food shelf options, but it also makes us mindful of the importance of
donating nutritious foods when we participate in a food drive.
Advocate
Share examples of what
food insecurity looks like in your community with your local and state
officials and policy makers.