Currently, more than 41 million people face hunger in the U.S. with the number including at least 5 million seniors and 13 million children. Food insecurity is a pressing issue in all counties in the country with more people relying on food banks and pantries. The situation remains accelerated by the prevalence of poverty around the country which makes many families unable to afford the $2.94 per meal. Feeding America estimates that there is a national “Meal Gap” of at least $16.28 per week for every person thereby creating a $24.2 billion shortfall (America, 2016). From their initiatives, it is clear that Feeding America engages in charity work when seeking to reduce food insecurity across the country. However, they need to change their approach to include solidarity work since the prevalent food insecurity is rooted in more profound issues of poverty and inequality. Statistics show that most families that receive SNAP benefits use most of the funds within the first week which creates food insecurity later in the month. Therefore, Feeding America can seek feedback from their target populations to determine the best strategy for disbursement of funds. Furthermore, they should also seek to lobby legislators in changing the existing cultural conditions to facilitate a rise out of poverty.
Students engaging with the target population might fail to understand how families that receive SNAP benefits still have the highest rates of food insecurity. Since most university students come from well-to-do backgrounds, understanding the root causative factors may be challenging. They may also face cultural challenges when working with minority populations such as African Americans and Latinos which may introduce challenges in engaging with them to get feedback on how to improve and innovate current initiatives (Counihan & Van Esterik, 2012). Students can overcome these issues through extensive research on hunger and its causative factors before their service learning tenure. The university can support them through collaboration with experts in the field who can deliver detailed presentations on how to work with the hungry populations in America.
As a volunteer organization, there are minimal liabilities incurred by having university students participate in service learning at Feeding America. Most of the potential issues would relate to working with vulnerable populations such as seniors and children which may require specialized diets (Handforth et al., 2013). Furthermore, a lack of cultural understanding may create communication challenges when working with minority groups such as blacks and Hispanics.
The potential cultural conflicts emerge through the food production methods used for the donations. Some cultures prize traditional farming methods and may be suspicious of modern methods (Monin & Szczurek, 2014). This may create conflicts with the organizational mission since food is sourced from donations. Furthermore, there is a potential for miscommunication when working with African Americans and Latinos based on their culture and beliefs about food. The university can support students participating in service learning by providing resources on the cultural significance of food in various cultures.
References
America, F. (2016). Map the meal gap 2016: Highlights of findings for overall and child food insecurity. Map the Meal Gap.
Counihan, C., & Van Esterik, P. (Eds.). (2012). Food and culture: A reader. Routledge.
Handforth, B., Hennink, M., & Schwartz, M. B. (2013). A qualitative study of nutrition-based initiatives at selected food banks in the Feeding America network. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 113(3), 411-415.
Monin, B., & Szczurek, L. M. (2014). Food and culture. Culture reexamined: Broadening our understanding of social and evolutionary influences, 155-190.