Beyond Funding

2020 ◽  
pp. 98-123
Author(s):  
Nicole R. Peritore ◽  
Joann Lianekhammy
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Child Nutrition ◽  
Child Poverty ◽  
The United States ◽  
Assistance Programs ◽  
Child Nutrition Programs ◽  
Community Needs ◽  
Nutrition Assistance ◽  
Nutrition Assistance Programs ◽  
Food And Nutrition Service

The Rural Child Poverty Nutrition Center (RCPNC) was created through grant funding from the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service and designed to address childhood food insecurity in persistently poor, rural counties in the United States. The RCPNC selected various community projects that focused on child nutrition assistance programs. Administration and technical assistance from the RCPNC allowed for improvements to child nutrition programs for the sub-grantees through the grant beginning with community needs assessments and programming meeting their individual needs. Evaluation found that the RCPNC was successful in assisting the sub-grantees reach their unique goals, which improve the initial outcomes as desired by the grant. Additionally, despite the unique communities the sub-grantees served, there were commonalities that linked all of the communities. This chapter describes the process with which the RCPNC sought unique communities with creative projects and explains the ways in which others can improve child nutrition outcomes.

scholarly journals Perspective: The Convergence of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Food Insecurity in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason M Nagata ◽  
Hilary K Seligman ◽  
Sheri D Weiser
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Micronutrient Deficiencies ◽  
Supplemental Nutrition ◽  
Assistance Program ◽  
Assistance Programs ◽  
United States Food ◽  
Households With Children ◽  
Nutrition Assistance

ABSTRACT During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, food insecurity has doubled overall and tripled among households with children in the United States. Food insecurity and COVID-19 may exacerbate one another through bidirectional links, leading to a syndemic, or sequential disease clusters, which exacerbate one another. Experiencing food insecurity may be associated with macronutrient and micronutrient deficiencies, which can weaken host defenses, thus increasing susceptibility to COVID-19. Food insecurity is associated with chronic medical conditions, which may afford a higher risk of severe COVID-19 illness. People experiencing food insecurity may have increased exposure to COVID-19 while procuring food. People with COVID-19 may be unable to work, generate income, and procure food while quarantined, which may exacerbate food insecurity. Clinicians should screen for food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic and provide referrals to food-assistance programs when appropriate. Policymakers should expand benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to address increases in the depth and breadth of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Food Assistance Programs and Food Security

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Gundersen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Food Assistance ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Food Assistance Programs ◽  
Assistance Program ◽  
Assistance Programs ◽  
Nutrition Assistance

Food insecurity is a leading public-health challenge in the United States today. This is primarily due to the magnitude of the problem—about 50 million persons are food insecure—and the serious negative health and other outcomes associated with being food insecure. This chapter first defines the measure used to delineate whether a household is food insecure. The measure, the Core Food Security Module (CFSM), is based on 18 questions about a household’s food situation. From the responses, a household is defined as food secure, low food secure, or very low food secure, with the latter two categories defined as “food insecure.” I next discuss the extent of food insecurity in the United States across various dimensions, the key determinants of food insecurity, and the multiple negative consequences associated with food insecurity. Two of the key policy tools used to address food insecurity are the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) and the National School Lunch Program. A brief overview and definition of the eligibility criteria for each program is provided along with a discussion of their respective impacts on food insecurity. This chapter concludes with four major current challenges pertaining to food insecurity and food assistance programs.

Food Insecurity and Public Health

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Knowles ◽  
Joanna Simmons ◽  
Mariana Chilton
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Child Nutrition ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Assistance Program ◽  
Nutrition Assistance ◽  
The Right

Food insecurity—lack of access to enough food for an active and healthy life—is a major public health issue, affecting the health and well-being of one in seven people in the United States. Food insecurity is related to economic, social, and political conditions, and is beyond the control of a single household. Structural inequalities and discrimination against people of color, LGBTQ people, immigrants, people with disabilities, and women drives disparities in food insecurity. Major policy interventions include raising wages, improving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, various programs of the Child Nutrition Reauthorization, and the Elder Nutrition Program, but these programs are not sufficient to address food insecurity fully. A human rights approach, which recognizes the right to food and promotes increasing civic participation among people from all sectors, offers new possibilities in addressing food insecurity in the United States.

Hunger, Nutrition, and Food Programs

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristine Siefert
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
High Standard ◽  
The United States ◽  
Assistance Programs ◽  
Adequate Funding ◽  
Food And Nutrition ◽  
Nutrition Assistance ◽  
Nutrition Assistance Programs

Food insecurity and hunger are serious problems around the world, with an estimated 870 million people chronically undernourished. The vast majority of these people—an estimated 14.9%—live in developing countries. Although federal food and nutrition assistance programs and the generally high standard of living in the United States have eliminated the more extreme forms of hunger found in developing countries, less severe but nonetheless serious forms of hunger and food insecurity affect millions of households. Food and nutrition programs require adequate funding, increased access, and further evaluation, but to achieve the goals of ending hunger and assuring food security for all, multisectoral strategies that address the macro-level determinants of food security are needed.

scholarly journals Strategizing Dinner: How American Pantry Users Think about Feeding Their Families with Limited Resources

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9772
Author(s):  
Tracey Kathleen Burke ◽  
Amanda K. Walch ◽  
Kiana Holland ◽  
Brynn Byam ◽  
David Reamer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Food Pantry ◽  
Assistance Programs ◽  
Nutrition Assistance

The financial crisis associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated food insecurity in the United States. The emergency provides an opportunity to re-think the American nutrition-assistance system. In this paper, we describe findings from a community-based project conducted in urban Alaska before the pandemic in collaboration with a local food pantry. We conducted semi-structured interviews with nineteen food recipients, half of them twice, about how they procure food and prepare their meals in the context of juggling other expenses and demands on their time. What participants in our study do fits mainstream American patterns. Our study adds to the knowledge base by focusing on how families think strategically about their situations in context. In addition to cost, participants take nutrition and flavor into account. Most importantly, they do not think about assistance programs in isolation but holistically.

Food Assistance

Getting By ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 243-328
Author(s):  
Helen Hershkoff ◽  
Stephen Loffredo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
School Lunch ◽  
The United States ◽  
Food Assistance ◽  
Food Assistance Programs ◽  
Assistance Programs ◽  
Group Settings ◽  
Nutrition Assistance

This chapter focuses on food assistance as a specific type of noncash benefit for poor and low-income persons. In 2006, the United States substituted the term “food insecurity” for hunger, but by any measure the United States has too many people—even those working full-time—without enough money to purchase groceries. The chapter describes the major federal programs that provide food assistance, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, known as food stamps); the WIC program, for pregnant women, new mothers, and infant children; the School Lunch and School Breakfast programs; and senior nutrition programs. These programs use different models to provide assistance: SNAP is designed to increase the purchasing power of a poor or low-income recipients; WIC targets a discrete group with special nutritional needs, and combines food support with health and nutritional counseling; School Lunch and Congregate Meals provide meals in group settings to students and to seniors, combining food with social activity. The emphasis throughout is on eligibility, benefits, and the relation of food assistance to other cash-assistance programs and to wage labor. The food-assistance programs discussed in the chapter are vital to health and development, and also boost local economies and support the agricultural sector. But they do not go far enough in reducing hunger, and they arbitrarily restrict benefits to some of the poorest people in the country.

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