Community Food Banks Analysis

The Necessity of Community Food Banks
Section One: Evaluation of Service and Learning
Cheryl Oberholser and Cynthia Tuttle, authors of “Assessment of Household Food Security Among Food Stamp Recipient Families in Maryland,” assessed the relationship between food security status and various sociodemographic characteristics among households that include children and that receive food stamps. Based on the survey they conducted, the authors found 34% of respondents reported they "sometimes did not have enough food to eat," 9% reported "often not having enough to eat," and 35% of the participants did not always have the "kinds of food they wanted to eat," although they had enough to eat (Oberholser and Tuttle). Not enough money to buy food was consistently
According to the text, “the United States has the greatest degree of income inequality and the highest rate of poverty of any industrialized nation” (Mooney et al., 180). Poverty leads to a negative impact on family life, health, and one’s environment. Not having enough money also leads to families not being able to provide for their families, and they often times go hungry. Hunger in the United States is measured by the percentage of households that are “food insecure,” which means that the household had difficulty providing enough food for all its members due to a lack of resources. In 2011, nearly 15 percent of U.S. households were food insecure at some time during the year (184). Being poor also exposes one to rough neighborhoods with high crime rates and pollution. Consequences of living in poor neighborhoods is a lack of education for the youth, as discussed in chapter eight. Children whose families are in middle to upper socioeconomic brackets are more
I can happily report the distribution center was incredibly well-organized and thought out. The outside of the food bank was actually really nice looking; I wasn’t expecting that. Though, appearances do matter; so, maybe I should not have been altogether surprised. Overall, I not only learned more about how the food bank helps the community, but also about other social problems in our society. The amount of produce we sorted through the first day was insane and reminded me that there is a growing problem in the U.S., and now in the community, regarding a lack of healthy food available for low-income families. I was happy to see how much fresh and healthy produce volunteers were sorting through instead of donated hamburger helper or syrupy fruit