After reviewing the amount of food wasted in America by farmers and corporations, it seems that there would be an obvious solution to ending hunger. Feeding America (FA) works to take that surplus of food and give it to those who suffer from food insecurity. Their mission is to feed America’s hungry through a national network of food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger.
I was introduced to this organization through my fraternity. In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, we chose to hold a fundraiser for FA. Their emphasis on public sustainability reminded me of my core value of community. Through their work in the COVID-19 Response Fund, food banks around the country, including Broome county, were able to stay afloat amid a worldwide crisis. All of which I will go into detail later in this post.
In the United States, over 37 million people struggle with food insecurity. This problem stems from the high unemployment rate, stagnant wages, and rising cost of living. This problem is only intensified by the fact that many suffering households do not qualify for federal nutritional programs (SNAP, WIC, etc.). Therefore, many citizens have no choice but to depend on FA in order to eat.
To fight this, FA collects surplus foods from manufacturers, grocery stores and farmers to redistribute it to local communities. Last year they were able to rescue 3.6 million pounds of food to give back to those who needed it. They also recognize that a healthy community cannot form and thrive unless its members are also healthy. Nobody can have a successful life without first taking care of themselves, especially when nutritionally based illnesses disproportionally affect food insecure people. Recognizing this, FA connects local food banks to farmers so they can offer fresh produce to those in need. They also established mobile food pantries to connect these nutritious foods to those who may be hard to reach. A key step to FA’s mission is the research they conduct to better enable the public on the best way to maintain a diet on a tough budget. Although that is an important step, the way they fight the core issue of hunger in the United States is through advocating in Washington D.C. via the Hunger Action Center.
You may be wondering, “Why is it so urgent to donate to a large organization like FA?” While it does have an overhead national facility, the money donated will go directly to our local food bank in the Southern Tier. Hunger is an issue that especially affects Broome county, specifically in households with children. Close to 21% of Broome county children live in households that are food insecure. Alongside that, only 14% of households with school-aged children are able to escape food insecurity when they are not receiving free/reduced cost meals from their childrens’ schools. With such alarming rates occurring during relatively normal circumstances in Broome county (aka pre-rona times), we can only expect them to rise as the pandemic continues. This pandemic has put a huge demand on FA food banks as members of the community lose their jobs, schools send their children home, and potential illness expenses occur. To prepare for this mass increase in demand, FA established the COVID-19 Response Fund. The money donated will support FA food banks across America to secure and distribute resources during this crisis. By donating you will help those who are at a higher risk of catching the virus due to lesser access to adequate healthcare, and could help contain the spread of the virus. With better access to high quality foods, the starving Broome county population can strengthen their overall health, including their immune system. With stronger systems, we can prevent those at risk from catching the virus.
In times like today, we have to remember to consider the issues of the community as much as we consider our own. By acting selflessly and donating to Feeding America, we could take significant steps towards not only ending the quarantine, but also resolving hunger in Broome county.
Thank you for reading and I wish you all good luck on your finals!
Amelia Thorp
I remember when we were considering VINES as a finalist that Broome County is a food desert - there is little access to healthy food. VINES' model seemed simple enough: grow food and sell it to the community. Here I took Feeding America's message a bit differently - give people extra food that would otherwise be thrown away. It seems like a better way to cut down on food waste than to feed Broome County in a sustainable manner. By the way you describe the households that rely on Feeding America for food, it seems more like social security than a charitable organization, in the sense that families who cannot afford food pick up food from Feeding America like one would an unemployment check. My point in emphasizing all of this is that if Feeding America is such a necessity in people's lives, it would be wrong to ignore them, as withholding money from this organization is akin to withholding healthy food from that 21% of food insecure houses.
ReplyDeleteHey Amelia! I genuinely enjoyed you and Brendan’s charity pitch today and I believe that the conjunction speaks on the importance of a large organization like Feeding America. I understand that there is skepticism surrounding donating to such a large organization given their partnerships with big companies and corporations. However, the fact that food insecurity still exists in a developed country like the United States shows that Feeding America should still yield all support. The numerous strategies of food collection and distribution that you have listed in your charity pitch show how a large organization can employ flexible alternatives to their operations quicker and easier. The example of the mobile food pantries and the food collection from farms shows that one organization can manage the intake of resources and its distribution smoothly. With the established connections that Feeding America has, its sort of a one-stop-shop where food waste and food insecurity is tackled under the umbrella of their programs. Therefore, the partnerships of a large organization should not turn us away from donating considering our dollar is stretched over the effort it takes to get food to the tables of those who need it most.
ReplyDeleteHi Amelia! I liked that you chose Feeding America for your charity pitch. They are on the front lines during COVID 19 aiding those who are food insecure, a number that is growing due to unemployment. Food pantries around the country are seeing food shortages at an alarming rate. The impact on the children who rely on the school subsidized lunches. A problem that is too close to home in Binghamton. I have been fortunate to not go hungry during my life but I see the effect that it has on the community. That food insecurity is related to so many of the other needs in the needs assessment provided by the community foundation. It is no surprise that it was the number one concern of the COVID-19 survey.That the lack of food or affordable healthy options led to health complications. Feeding for America has done study to find that those who are food insecure have a higher risk of developing diabetes and high blood pressure. They have also found that it has a high impact on child to develop properly, academically perform and healthy eating habits. (https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/impact-of-hunger) The 3.6 million pounds of food that Feeding for America provides makes a difference in people's lives.
ReplyDelete-Bridget
DeleteHi Amelia! Thank you for informing us of this organization that is doing so much across America to help people that struggle with food insecurity. Binghamton definitely has a lot of people that struggle with putting a meal on the table every night, and that is only going to be heightened due to the pandemic. I know there are a lot of other local organizations that are fighting to help community members that are unable to get food. For example, I know that the Boys and Girls Club of Binghamton is providing breakfasts and lunches to any of the members of the club Monday-Friday through curbside pickup. They have a fund you can donate to called "Whatever It Takes - COVID-19 Response Fund". If you're interested in donating, here is the link, https://www.givegab.com/campaigns/whatever-it-takes-covid-19. We also know that VINES is doing what they can to support the community and deliver food to people. They also are reducing the cost of their food immensely to ensure that people have access to healthy food. I'm from Albany area, and I know that my school district is providing the regular breakfasts and lunches to students every week day. I volunteer to pack lunches for these students, and they have other volunteers that deliver the meals to the students homes. I found an article that spoke about how different schools across the country are handling the situation, and some are able to still provide meals, while others struggle to. (https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/4/17/21220016/school-lunch-coronavirus-meal-programsa) I was wondering what kind of food does Feed America try to save? And if the food is going to be thrown away, are there times when it may not be the best food to give to people? Thank you again for sharing this organization with us!
ReplyDeleteHi Amelia, thank you for your post about Feeding America. I'm glad that you are talking about a local organization. Feeding America seems to be a great non-profit with wonderful organization skills. From analyzing the needs assessment myself, I can see that poverty and food insecurity is a big issue. I really like the food pantries that you mentioned and think they would be of a great use to the community. I am wondering if they mainly receive cash or food donations. I would think that it's potentially dangerous for people to go out and buy food right now because of COVID 19. Due to that, there could be less donations. In addition, with the rising unemployment, people might have trouble donating money.
ReplyDeleteHey Amelia, thank you for your charity pitch on Feeding America, I'd like to start off by saying what you and Brendan did for the pitch was very creative and added a little spice to something we are very familiar in week in and week out with the pitches. I think you did a great job making such a large organization feel small through your post and presentation, often organizations as large as Feeding America can be a bit off-putting to people like us who are more invested in smaller scale philanthropy simply due to the fact that we feel like we are making a bigger impact. I also think you focused on what was most important to share given the current circumstances surrounding COVID-19, you relayed the information that matters most now during the pandemic rather than things Feeding America focuses on outside of this era. This helped keep your blog post current which is a very important aspect not only as a philanthropist but as a writer because it is much easier to grab and retain attention from the reader. Food is obviously of utmost priority during the pandemic so it remains very important to support organizations that feed Americans when they may not have adequate access, that is why we were all so attracted to VINES towards the end. Thank you again for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Amelia,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post about Feeding America taking inspiring steps to help those who suffer from food insecurity. There is clearly a huge proportion of people in Broome County who are not able to have access to the food they need to properly take care of themselves, and this is imperative to be addressed because without proper nutrition, it is nearly impossible to have a successful life. Like our thinking process when supporting VINES, I believe Feeding America is an organization well focused on the needs of the local community and well pertains to the challenges faced currently due to the impact of this pandemic. Food insecurity can also lead to a multitude of other complications for a household, including unemployment, inability to provide children education, and other medical issues, therefore it is a critical issue that needs to be addressed. I really believe the established mobile food pantries which connected these nutritious foods to those who may be hard to reach is an innovative and efficient idea, and will be very effective in the long run. When I used to volunteer at Hands of Hope, a community soup kitchen which established mobile food pantries, we noticed the positive difference in community almost immediately. 3.6 million pounds of food is an extremely impressive amount of surplus food to be distributed, especially to a local area. Feeding America is directly addressing the pressing issues that this country is still facing today, despite being a developed country. It is clear that Feeding America is truly an organization worth investing in and donating to.
Hi Amelia I really enjoyed your post! Even before this crisis started, the stats of food insecurity in Broome county shocked me. I could not believe that in the modern day and age that percentage of people were going hungry. Of course, with the resulting economic crash from the corona virus even more people are facing these circumstances. I've seen pictures of food bank lines and stats from SNAP and WIP that absolutely blow me away, as well as hearing about how farmers are having to throw away surplus food. It seems like FA does great work on this front, and even though they are a national organization they seem like a great non profit to donate to. Since the government isn't stepping up and giving people the financial assistance they need, charities like FA are so important now. I think you did a great job making the case and donating to FA seems like a great way to be an effective altruist.
ReplyDeleteYes!! As you all may know I grew up in the city, Brooklyn to be exact and it is easy to see that food scarcity is a problem. My neighborhood of Bed-Stuy is way different than the pristine neighborhood of ParkSlope. Families have access to healthy food within a block of their homes in ParkSlope, meanwhile in my neighborhood you have to drive a good couple of miles to get food that is considered healthy and hearty. This clear divide is a reason why supported VINES from the beginning. VINES is tackling a problem we see in Broome County that some are choosing to ignore. When I look at FA and VINES I see two organizations tackling a problem in America, which is the underrepresented being ignored and getting the shorter end of the stick. It is quiet disheartening that our socio-economic status closely relates to our health and the support we are given.
ReplyDeleteNia Johnson