A Quiet Wave Building -- Food Insecurity

Poverty hardly ever makes the news, though it's getting harder to ignore these days, with the rise in unemployment and loss of 1.3 million jobs in the first 10 months of the year. The national unemployment rate is 6.5 percent, though for people 25 and older without a high school diploma -- a heavily low income group -- it is already about 10.3 percent and economists talk about the jobless rate peaking a full year from now.

All of which means "food insecurity" is growing. That bland term describes people who don't have enough to eat, never mind the good healthy food the readers of this blog aspire to. In a good summary, the Nation's editor, Katrina Vanden Heuvel, writes:

According to the USDA's annual report on food security, nearly one in eight Americans struggled with hunger in 2007 -- which means "36.2 million adults and children... didn't have the money or assistance to get enough food to maintain active, healthy lives." 691,000 children "suffered a substantial disruption in the amount of food they typically eat" -- a more than 50 percent increase from 2006 and the highest number since 1998.

Now, non-profits are running thin on donations and food banks are getting low -- precisely the scenario food activist Mark Winne presented in his recent interview with me. He elaborates his position in a recent blog post, saying the solution is not a dramatic increase in charity but rather a dramatic decrease in poverty at the root of food insecurity.

Hopefully the stimulus program under discussion by the Obama transition team and on Capitol Hill will do just that -- create jobs not just bailouts -- and not a moment too soon.

Meanwhile, if you want to see what's happening to the white collar workforce check out this chart of fourth quarter layoffs over at the WSJ blog Real Time Economics.

- Samuel Fromartz

Comments

[N.]

This is one of the main reasons I'm committing to donate two non-perishable food items to my local food shelter each week. Alone it's not much but if we each spent the extra coupe dollars when we do our grocery shopping it could really add up.

Some ideas for donations include:

Peanut Butter
Canned Tuna
Canned Beans
Canned Soups, Stews and Pastas
100% Fruit Juice
Canned Fruits and Vegetables
Macaroni and Cheese Dinners
Whole Grain, Low Sugar Cereals
100% juice in cans or boxes (no glass, please)

[Debra]

Having committed to eating locally, my dilemma had been about buying food items that I wouldn't eat myself. This led to a survey of pantries and community kitchens in my area, and the finding that most had at least some ability to accept donations of fresh food. Seacoast Eat Local, our local grassroots organization, initiated a food donation table as part of our Holiday Farmers' Markets, and we were able to collect over 400 pounds of food purchased directly from the farmers participating in the market -- the food pantry received much-needed fresh food, the money used to purchase it went directly to the farmers and our local economy, and we helped to make eating locally more accessible to all.

[Anna]

Yes, I know the hesitant feeling about donating foods I wouldn't choose for my own family. I would prefer to donate foods that I'd also feed to my family without hesitation, but the food pantry guidelines often preclude that from individual donations (they do work with other sources for fresh donations).

I've worked on boy scout food drives for our local food pantry and have seen first hand that the overwhelming majority of individuals' donations are most often heavily processed starches and sugary foods which are relatively low in nutrients compared to their carbohydrate energy content, and relatively low nutrient canned vegetables, like corn.

So instead I try to donate non-perishable high quality protein sources that lack excess starches and sugars, but still sticking to the food pantry's requests for no glass and shelf-stability.

My usual non-perishable and shelf-stable donation choices include canned sardines, tuna, and wild caught salmon, often a great bargain at the 99 cent store. Sometimes I also include cans of chicken meat. I try to make sure these items are not packaged in high omega-6 vegetable oils (like soybean, cottonseed, and safflower/sunflower), choosing either fish oil, olive oil, or water instead. I include a variety of sizes from individual servings in cans or pouches, to sizes more suitable to families.

When glass jars are deemed ok (if I drop them off at the center instead of at a collection barrel), I donate jars of almond butter and peanut butter (natural kind, not the ones with added hydrogenated vegetable oil and sugars) as well as olive oil.