Being from (and currently living in) the Philadelphia area, I thought it would be appropriate to look up food security issues in the area closest to me.
However, and I may have glossed over it, but there seem to be two different issues with food security. The first is the economically-induced hunger, that is, how many people can't afford food or enough food. The second is the security of the food supply itself, in this case, how vulnerable the food supply is to disruption.
On the first type of food security, the
Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger claims that about 1 in 4 people in Philadelphia are at risk for hunger. I'm not sure as to their exact methodologies, but having lived in Philadelphia for all by my college years, it's certainly not a stretch to imagine people in Philadelphia having difficulty paying for food given the poverty in the city.
On the second type of food security, there are a lot of different resources. In addition to
several community gardening initiatives, there are other organizations like the
Philadelphia Orchard Project who, as their name implies, plans fruit trees and bushes around the city. I even managed to find a rather
comprehensive study conducted by the Delaware Valley Planning Commission, although unfortunately it'll cost you $15 to get. If you're really interested it might be worth it; it looks like they seriously analyzed where Philadelphia's food comes from and how it could become locally sourced. It's really encouraging to know there is an organization advising the area on these issues.
You need to be a member of Urgent Evoke to add comments!
Join Urgent Evoke