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Essays on famines
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Essays on food banks
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Misconceptions of Food Banks and My perceptions
When I was in El Salvador I was a member of a group of the church called "Parroquia Inmaculada Concepcion(Immaculate Conception Parish)" The church I attended had a hostel called "Posada Santa Maria" in which you had to serve and clean tables for people in need. My fear was not being able to communicate with these people since they are very vulnerable. However, I was wrong, The people there were very open about their situation and how happy they were to have food for another day. I can say that my fear of helping the community now that I am in the United States is the language since language can be a barrier for me. Also not being able to lift the weight of the bulk food packages.
The Experience
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For example, my perceptions of San Francisco and Marin food bank are that it is a place where you can make donations to help with food and help as a volunteer to order food in a store or help with the pantry. The people I thought were helped were only homeless but I was very wrong since the food is for families too who do not have enough money for the food since they pay for the rent of their house and basic needs. On the website, I also note that in the food bank they help people to complete CalFresh applications. What amazed me is that San Francisco and the Marin food bank also have a program called Home-Delivered Groceries (HDG) which brings food to seniors and adults with possible disabilities. The goal of this program is to reduce loneliness and that these people benefit from other …show more content…
The Bay Area is one of the regions with a high cost of housing, food, etc. Where hunger is a growing factor. People have a misconception that only homeless people cannot sustain themselves but in reality people suffering from famine belong to different social classes. In the news, usually heard or read on the internet that the economy has improved lately however the salaries remain the same; house rentals and gasoline cost have gone up. Therefore, these families or people think about paying the house rent, gasoline, and usually leave their meals at the end. According to San Francisco and the Marin food bank, “San Francisco is missing 29 million meals per year while Marine is missing 9 million meals per year” (SF and Marin Food Bank). The group of people who represent this food insecurity are children, unemployed people, the elderly, and low-wage workers. These people fight for famine everyday; only 14% of people who have received or receive meals from the food bank do not own a home. According to the statistics of San Francisco and Marin food bank states, the most disadvantaged elders are those who live in Marin; one third of the elderly have a very low income of 27,000 per year, which covers their basic needs. During the period from 2007 to 2014 the famine grew by 4% in San Francisco and in Marín by 30%. Due to the famine in Marín the food bank increased the distribution of food
After volunteering three times with the social action committee and high school group from Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church in the previous years, the Houston Food Bank became very familiar both in regards of their history and how their volunteerism works. The Houston Food Bank is a non-profit organization that seeks donations of non-perishable food items to serve the low-income families in eighteen counties across Texas. However, during a recent trip to the food bank with the University of Houston-Downtown College of Business, the interactions with a larger group of classmates became more dynamic. Three main topics involving group work at the Houston Food Bank are service learning, community service, and volunteerism. Service learning
They provide food to over 46 million people in need through their network of 200 food banks. They also work diligently on raising awareness by partnering with high-profile celebrities to create effective public service announcements. Though they are doing an amazing job tackling the hunger issue and spreading knowledge regarding hunger in America, there are two areas that may require adjustments.
Food is the most important thing to survive, but for homeless, it takes miracle to find food even for a day. Some people got food from begging on the street or buy food by the money they received. Others find food in unfortunate places; trashcan, picking it on the road, or eat others’ leftover. Even if there are chances of getting food from, some also starve and even lead to death. Because of food being so hard to find, 57% homeless spends at least a day being starve (“Statics” 2). For not receiving food and not eating regularly, it affects health conditions. They become sick easily. Once homeless gets sick, it is not easy to get back on track because they do not have anybody that take care of them. While the population of homeless increase, the death rate of homeless people also increase.
I also recently volunteered at the Cleveland Food Bank by packing lunches for under privileged children and sorting non-perishable foods for those in need. Prior to participating in volunteer services for the day, we were required to watch a video that explains the purpose of the Cleveland Food Bank and why there is a need for continuous support. The Greater Cleveland Food Bank works to ensure that everyone in our communities has the nutritious food they need every day. The mission of the Cleveland Food Bank is to alleviate hunger by providing food and support to community organizations that feed the hungry. Many people depend on the support because of their financial situation, life changes, and possible mental or physical limitations. The Food Bank acts as a storage unit and distribution facility for smaller agencies and organizations such as schools, homeless shelters, churches, and day
As noted by Wolfe, Frongillo, & Valois, (2003) hardships such as functional impairments, chronic health problems and money are major causes of food insecurity among the elderly. The US Department of Agriculture 's Continuing Survey of Food provided data on dietary intakes and behaviors were obtained from the elderly. There data showed that that lower-income elderly consume significantly fewer calories than higher-income elderly, fewer servings of major Food Guide Pyramid food groups, and most nutrients. Additionally, 6% of elderly households report some degree of food insecurity. Interventions have been established to reduce rates of food insecurity among the elderly.
Food insecurity does not discriminate; it reaches many segments of society (Whitney, DeBruyne, Pinna, & Rolfes, 2007). Even through closely related to poverty, not all that have food insecurities are in poverty. Often it is the working poor that are hit the hardest. The working poor are a group that despite having a job, there income is too low to meet their need or that of their family. Most of the working poor (56%) live in families with children, so that the poverty of these workers affects many others as well (Problems Facing the Working Poor, Kim 1999). Many lower to middle class families will temporarily struggle with food insecurity at various times during the year. For these families government assistance may not immediately available. Appling for Supplemental Nutrition Assistanc...
Food insecurity is an issue faced by millions of Americans every day, and the biggest group affected by this is working families with children. Food insecurity is so big that the United States government has now recognized it and provided a definition for it. The United States government has defined food insecurity as “a household level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food” (USDA.gov). Food banks and anti-hunger advocates agree that some of the causes of food insecurity are stagnant wages, increases in housing costs, unemployment, and inflation in the cost of food. These factors have caused food banks to see a change in the groups of people needing assistance.
In order to determine the prevalence of households that are food insecure, “The Food Security Supplement is administered annually to about 45,000 households as part of the monthly, nationally representative Current Population Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The supplement has been conducted annually since 1995.” (Health Indicators Warehouse, 2013). The survey was developed by the USDA in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control, and asks participants questions about their confiden...
Almost all of us have seen people in the street holding up signs asking for help for something to eat, more and more people are seen on the streets. “According to a survey announced in early October [2005] by USA Today, more than 727,000 individuals were homeless in 460 communities [in spring 2005]” (Romeo 1). Knowing how high the numbers of homeless
Poverty is regarded as the major cause of food insecurity. A household food security depends on access to food. America has access to good healthy food. However, a family too poor to buy them do not enjoy food security. Rosenbaum and Neuberger (2005) report that each year the number of people using government food assistance programs grows. “Food stamps are targeted to those with the greatest need for help in purchasing food… [and] helps to lessen the extent and severity of poverty (Rosenbaum and Neuberger 2005)”.
As of 2007, there have been reports that 48.7 million Americans are or have experienced being food insecurity at some point in their life. According to Central California Area Social Services Consortium (CCASSC), it has been reported that 45% of people who are food insecure are not below the federal poverty line (2012). There are many situations that are created for a person to become food insecure. Some examples of how food insecurities are created are issues with job stability, job loss, low or minimum wages, being a single parent, and/or unexpected expenses that can cause families to sacrifice or relocate money for food to pay for bills such as car repairs and medical bills (CCASSC, 2012). Many believed that food insecurity and hunger are the same thing. However, they are two completely different things. Congressional Digest (2010) stated that, “although hunger is related to food insecurity, it is a different phenomenon. Food insecurity is a household-level economic and social condition of limited access to food while hunger is an individual-level physiological condition that may result from food insecurity.” According to the CCASSC, it has been reported that 40.4% of the citizens living in California are food insecure. Unfortunately, as we hit closer to home in Fresno County, where it has been reported that 41.9% of out own citizens are food insecure
Homelessness is a growing epidemic around the world, and poverty is the most common reason most people are forced to face the miserable life of living without shelter. The only way that we can help this unfortunate situation is to take action, and by doing that, we need to know the facts about this unfortunate situation. Over two-million people live in emergency shelters, and transitional housing. With so many people living in poverty, it gives us a better understanding as to why there are so many homeless people today. Having no food, and relying on food kitchens, garbage scraps, and stealing food, is a very tragic situation. With no protection from the elements, many of them will die from heat strokes, or quite frankly, freeze to death. The average american purchases food and other household goods for their families, and some never stop to think of those less...
There are two types of people in Canada those who are economically stable and those who are not. The gap has become so broad that society could never reach an equal balance. Due to some Canadians not being employed, financially stable or educated it leads to them developing a lifestyle that could be a harmful to their health, this reason allowed food banks to take place helping those Canadians that are in need by donating food and volunteering to make a difference. The goodhearted people who started them thought food banks would be a short-term response. Now they 're a normal feature of our landscape (Power, 2011). This shows that even though Food Banks were initially a short-term response towards hungry, due to the gap that is placed between the rich and the poor it has become difficult reducing the gap. As the rich are getting richer and the poor are still struggling to shorten the gap, the food banks provide support to the poor by giving them food to eat and give them a healthy diet so they can decrease the risk of harming their health. This is a major issue because try to shut down the food banks do affect the social gap vigorously. Moreover, if they stop food banks many would die of hunger due to their social conditions and the rate of poor individuals would increase causing the social gap to increase. One reason why food banks do not have a huge effect on hunger is because not a lot Canadians, one out of four,
In the United States of America, the richest nation in the world, one in six Americans do not have enough food to eat. Have you ever wondered why there are so many food banks and food pantries throughout the country? They are not simply, as you might think, able to offer emergency food assistance. Indeed, they are the main sources of food for millions of food-insecure Americans. Food insecurity, the state of not having sufficient quantity of affordable and nutritious food, is very widespread and common in America.
leftovers that they can salvage. Food banks are almost the same thing as food rescue, they also work with their local businesses. Except the food rescues will donate five to ten times more food. Some charities will also purchase their food for their local food pantry. They will hold a donation to help raise money to purchase food for their pantry.