Urgent Evoke

A crash course in changing the world.

Mission 2: Learn about local food insecurity

I live in the US and in a relatively well-to-do state and community so food security was not high in my awareness. I have to say that if nothing else Evoke is definitely and eye opener.

Like most places generally speaking hunger is a condition of poverty in my state. I'm used to thinking of poverty as a Third World issue but I came across this stat online.

"With a poverty rate of 13.7%, Georgia has the 15th highest poverty rate in the United States, which is slightly better than North Carolina and slightly behind Montana."

Read more at Suite101: Poverty Rates in Georgia: 36 Counties and 9 Major Cities are Prone ... http://poverty.suite101.com/article.cfm/poverty_in_georgia#ixzz0jVR...

The poorest counties are concentrated in Southwest Georgia and consequently so are the largest needs for food banks, farmers markets, etc... The Food Bank of Southwest Georgia seems to be a good place to get started with identifying and beginning to meet the basic food securities issues in the area.

Here is the link to the SW GA Food Bank and the other prominent food banks in Georgia.







Locally I'm serviced by the Atlanta Community Food Bank and many of the resources I discuss can be found on their website.


My county also has a local food pantry that can be found here.


We also have a community garden.


The ACFB has a variety of educational and fundraising programs from their Hunger 101 course to the annual Hunger Walk. They also get local chefs to teach cooking cla**** and provide special services for needy children. One of their most interesting projects is getting prepared, perishable meals from local hotels and transporting them to local distribution points in needy areas. Most of the other food banks have comparable programs.

Since information from Evoke and my own research suggests that a decrease in poverty rates strongly corelates with a rise in food security I checked out local poverty issues and solutions.

=======================
"Poverty in Georgia arises out of the socioeconomic structure of counties, and a number of factors influence the degree of child poverty. The lower the average income of employed persons within a county, the greater the likelihood that families in that area are living in poverty. The following factors are also likely to raise the level of poverty:

—an increase in the number of persons sixty-five years and older and of persons younger than eighteen, in relation to the number of employed workers (which increases the burden of support for the workers)

—an increase in the average size of farms (which decreases employment opportunities)

—an increase in the number of female-headed households with children but no husband present

— an increase in the percent of persons with a disability (which reduces the effective workforce)

Efforts to improve the income level of low-income families aim at the heart of the problem and include the promotion of higher wages through upgrading occupations, education and skills training, and migration to areas of greater work opportunities. The following factors will improve the poverty picture of a county:

—an increase in the percent of the married population

—an increase in the percent of the population in the middle and higher income cla****

—an increase in retail sales per capita

—an increase in the average weekly wage of all workers

—an increase in the percent of new immigrant residents.

A number of agencies are working to improve the well-being of children in Georgia. The KIDS COUNT program, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation and sponsored by the Family Connection Partnership in Atlanta, annually tracks ten well-being factors by county in order to stimulate action to improve conditions. The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services offers a variety of beneficial services to counties. The Georgia Rural Development Council sponsors programs to increase economic activity and community development by working through sixteen regional development centers."

======================

This to me highlights the idea that food insecurity and hunger is not a simple issue of access to food but rather a complex problem involving multiple factors.

I don't know exactly what to do about the state food insecurity issue, much less the world. But I will co-opt the "think global, act local" slogan and see about starting a garden and/or working with my the Henry County community garden.


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