Childhood Food Insecurity

The level of childhood food insecurity was unacceptable prior to the pandemic, and is absolutely disturbing now. The number of food insecure children in Michiganhas almost doubled since March. In early March, there were approximately 300,000 food insecure children living in our state, now there are more than 600,000. How do we know this? We know this because of the life work of our guest, Dr. Craig Gundersen. Dr. Gundersen is an ACES Distinguished Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign as well as the creator and researcher of Map the Meal Gap (MTMG). Map the Meal Gap is one of the primary tools used by the Feeding America network to understand who is food insecure in our nation and in our state. To view the 2020 food insecurity projections, visit: https://www.feedingamericaaction.org/the-impact-of-coronavirus-on-food-insecurity/ We are grateful for Dr. Gundersen’s work and how he is choosing to invest his one handful of life. His work concentrates on the causes and consequences of food insecurity and the evaluation of food assistance programs with an emphasis on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps). Food insecurity is the leading healthcare crisis in terms of nutrition in our country. Serious healthcare costs associated with food insecurity are estimated to cost the nation $600 billion (this estimation accounts just for adults). Also covered in Sunday’s edition of Food First is a discussion on Gleaners Community Food Bank’s studies on the impact of food insecurity on education as well as the impact of delivering groceries to families while schools are closed. If we want to make systemic change within our work, we must focus on and support those with disabilities (physical, mental and emotional), support our food bank network, and expand SNAP eligibility requirements while increasing benefit amounts. Who needs help? How much help do they need? And, for how long? We must provide insight, understanding, knowledge and eventually wisdom in order to create solutions. While doing so, we must keep #FOODFIRST!