Case Study on Food Security

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Elijah Daniel IDSC Instructor 9 April 2015 Using an Interdisciplinary Approach to Help Solve Hunger Part I. Introduction to Food Security in the United States While hunger and poverty is often associated with Africa or other undeveloped parts of the world, it actually can hit close to home. According to Feeding America, approximately 49.1 Americans reside in households that are considered food insecure (Feeding America). The Food and Agricultural Organization defines food security as a condition existing, “when all people, at all times, have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life,” (FAO 1996). Hunger and food security are both epidemics that do not recognize borders or race, and as the statistic above suggests, can affect even the wealthiest countries. While the data for the United States may seem staggering, it gets worse in Alabama. In fact, you do not need to look far to see that food insecurity is happening in our own community of Lee County, Alabama. More than fifteen percent of Alabama residents are living in poverty and twelve percent are “food insecure.” Alabama is in the bottom one-third of states with the greatest food insecurity and of the sixty-seven counties in Alabama, Lee County has the seventh largest number of food insecure individuals (LCCFSA). The World Health Organization identified three pillars of food security: food availability, food access, and food utilization. The WHO defines “community food insecurity” as, “a condition in which all community residents obtain a safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes community self-reliance and social justice,” (WHO). Based on this information, to help eradicate the problem of our community food insecurity we will need to partner with nutritionists, politicians, and the agriculture
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