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5/20/13 8:52 AM Guest writer: Food for thought Page 1 of 4 http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2013/may/17/food-thought-20130517/ 72° Dallas Search ArkansasOnline 0 Comment (1) Font Size Share Home / Guest writer Food for thought Work together to fight hunger By JOHN BROWN SPECIAL TO THE DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE This article was published May 17, 2013 at 4:36 a.m. Fifty million people in the U.S., and one in four children, don’t know where their next meal is coming from, despite our country having the means to provide nutritious, affordable food for all Americans. Last fall at the Conference of Southwest Foundations’ Annual meeting, my colleagues and I watched clips from A Place at the Table. This documentary examines the many issues hunger causes, and gives us insight into what life is like for the millions of people in America who suffer from hunger. Most of these people were working but they just did not make enough money to put food on the table for the entire month. Many of them did not qualify for food stamps or bridge cards. We all left the conference with a new perspective and appreciation of the gravity of the hunger problem in America. It was a wake-up call for all of us. The Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance estimates that tonight over 560,000of our fellow Arkansans will go to bed with an empty, gnawing ache in their bellies. One in six of our neighbors cannot put food on the table tonight for their family. It isn’t because we don’t have enough food. The cause is poverty. Nineteen percent of Arkansans live below the poverty line and often don’t have the money to buy milk and bread, according to the 2011 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. Out of the millions of Americans who are food-insecure, a lot of them are right here in the Natural State. The USDA ranks us at the top in the nation for the number of food-insecure households. The fact is that hunger poses a serious economic, social and cultural threat to our communities in Arkansas and to our nation. According to a 2011 report by the Center for American Progress and Brandeis University, “hunger costs our nation at least $167.5 billion due to the combination of lost economic productivity per year, more expensive public education because of the rising costs of poor education outcomes, avoidable health-care costs, and the cost of charity to keep families fed.” The effects of hunger on children’s health and educational achievement are especially alarming. Research conducted by Children’s Health-Watch and reported on by Feeding America shows that food-insecure children are 90 percent more likely than kids from food-secure homes to have their overall health reported as “fair/poor” rather than “excellent/ good.” A 2012 survey of public Records set as winterlike conditions hit state (109 comments) Obama tries to regain control amid controversies (45 comments) What took so long? (1 comment) Psst,are you a patriot? (21 comments) Shoffner, 68, under watch, sheriff says (1 comment) Treasurer Shoffner arrested on extortion charge (15 comments) Monday, May 20, 2013, 8:56 a.m. Epaper Logged in as Claire Reyes Settings | Help | Logout MOST DISCUSSED STORIES Crime Right2Know Whole Hog Sports Sync Weekly Dining Out Arkansas Daily Deal Home News Obituaries Business Entertainment Sports Photos Videos Features Events Classifieds Jobs Homes Autos Like 0
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5/20/13 8:52 AMGuest writer: Food for thought
Page 1 of 4http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2013/may/17/food-thought-20130517/
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Guest writer
Food for thoughtWork together to fight hunger
By JOHN BROWN SPECIAL TO THE DEMOCRAT-GAZETTEThis article was published May 17, 2013 at 4:36 a.m.
Fifty million people in the U.S., and one in four children, don’t know where their next meal is
coming from, despite our country having the means to provide nutritious, affordable food for all
Americans.
Last fall at the Conference of Southwest Foundations’ Annual meeting, my colleagues and I
watched clips from A Place at the Table. This documentary examines the many issues hunger
causes, and gives us insight into what life is like for the millions of people in America who suffer
from hunger. Most of these people were working but they just did not make enough money to put
food on the table for the entire month. Many of them did not qualify for food stamps or bridge
cards.
We all left the conference with a new perspective and appreciation of the gravity of the hunger
problem in America. It was a wake-up call for all of us.
The Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance estimates that tonight over 560,000of our fellow Arkansans will
go to bed with an empty, gnawing ache in their bellies. One in six of our neighbors cannot put food
on the table tonight for their family. It isn’t because we don’t have enough food. The cause is
poverty.
Nineteen percent of Arkansans live below the poverty line and often don’t have the money to buy
milk and bread, according to the 2011 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. Out
of the millions of Americans who are food-insecure, a lot of them are right here in the Natural
State. The USDA ranks us at the top in the nation for the number of food-insecure households.
The fact is that hunger poses a serious economic, social and cultural threat to our communities in
Arkansas and to our nation. According to a 2011 report by the Center for American Progress and
Brandeis University, “hunger costs our nation at least $167.5 billion due to the combination of lost
economic productivity per year, more expensive public education because of the rising costs of
poor education outcomes, avoidable health-care costs, and the cost of charity to keep families
fed.”
The effects of hunger on children’s health and educational achievement are especially alarming.
Research conducted by Children’s Health-Watch and reported on by Feeding America shows that
food-insecure children are 90 percent more likely than kids from food-secure homes to have their
overall health reported as “fair/poor” rather than “excellent/ good.” A 2012 survey of public
Records set as winterlike conditions hit state (109
comments)
Obama tries to regain control amid controversies(45 comments)
What took so long? (1 comment)
Psst,are you a patriot? (21 comments)
Shoffner, 68, under watch, sheriff says (1 comment)
Treasurer Shoffner arrested on extortion charge (15
comments)
Monday, May 20, 2013, 8:56 a.m.
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5/20/13 8:52 AMGuest writer: Food for thought
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school teachers by Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign shows hungry students struggle
with poor academic performance, behavior problems and health issues.
The good news is that the problem can be solved if we, as Americans, agree that making healthy
food available and affordable is in the best interest of us all.
I recently toured the Arkansas Foodbank with a group of grant makers from private foundations
across the Southwest. The reason for our visit was to gain insight into how the agency is addressing
hunger through collaboration.
The food bank is a member of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, a statewide alliance focused on
hunger relief, education and advocacy. The alliance was formed almost 10 years ago with the
support, encouragement and financial assistance of the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.
Today, the collaborative network of hunger-relief organizations throughout Arkansas and its
business, community and foundation supporters provides over 20 million pounds of food annually to
help feed people in need.
The 240 members of the Conference of Southwest Foundations, representing seven states, are
constantly searching for ways to address life’s most pressing problems in the most effective and
efficient manner possible.
Collaboration has helped the alliance make great strides in the fight against hunger and is
something we see as the key to wiping out food insecurity.
A lot of people think that it’s up to government to fix the big problems, but the fact is, to battle
something as monumental as hunger takes every single one of us. Philanthropic and government
assistance are just part of the solution. The rest is knowledge, time and money-and a commitment
by every one of us to work together to end hunger for children and families in states like Arkansas.
———◊———
Former state Sen. John Brown is president of the Windgate Charitable Foundation.
Editorial, Pages 17 on 05/17/2013
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5/20/13 8:52 AMGuest writer: Food for thought
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May 17, 2013 at 12:46 p.m.
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Educator says...I am very skeptical of the numbers used in this column. Comments like "one in four children do notknow where their next meal is coming from" and "tonight over 560,000 of our fellow Arkansans willgo to bed with an empty, gnawing ache in their bellies" should be met meet with skepticism,espcially since the author provided no sources for these numbers. Sources are needed so that askeptical reader can find out for himself/herself if there is truth in the column. Citing a study bythe American Center for Progress does not add to the column's credibility since this organization ishighly biased towards specific causes. What is needed is unbiased studies to determine actualhunger statistics, including a definition of hunger.As a research scientist, I am always skeptical of so-called facts by either right or left causes. Forexample, the 90% of Americans support some sort of gun control is often used in media. This soundshighly dubious to me. Just getting 90% of the people to agree on anything should be thoroughlyvetted. Yet, when one studies how this number was obtained (a very small sample size from 6states in the northeastern U.S. that all voted for President Obama) you will see that it was a highlybiased survey and statistically not valid to apply to the whole U.S. Therefore, anyone who uses thisnumber based on this survey looses credibility. In this day of great hyberbole, one needs to applycritical thinking to any "reported facts" and make their own decisions.
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