By LINDSEY SCHIBELHUT, Staff Reporter.
Across Michigan many people are dealing with food insecurity and are faced with making tough decisions when it comes to when or if they can get their next meal.
To address this growing problem, Delta held the Hunger in Michigan forum Tuesday, April 7. Senior Attorney for the Center for Civil Justice, Jackie Doig, Professor of Sociology, and Delta Food Pantry board member, Colleen Wilson-Rood, Development Manager of the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, Tracy Fowler- Johnston, and Deputy Director of Field Operations Administration of the Department of Human Services, Sheryl Thompson were on the panel, while Professor of Philosophy, Kirk Wolf moderated the session.
“Nationally the food insecurity is 14.3 percent,” says Tracy Fowler- Johnston. ”In Michigan alone, Saginaw county the food insecurity rate is 17.5 percent with a population of 202,000. 35,000 people are food insecure.”
Colleen Wilson-Rood, Professor of Sociology, and Delta Food Pantry board member says that in about 10 percent of households in Michigan with children both the adults and the children are scraping by and are skipping meals. She also says when you look at rates of poverty and the structure of households, 38 percent of households that are food insecure are single female headed households in Michigan. In Saginaw alone the rate is 42 percent.
“These are a direct result of other social issues like pay gaps and the fact that women don’t make as much and that their budget doesn’t stretch as far,” says Rood.
Rood says students are able to get “mini bag lunches” four times a month at the Delta Food Pantry, and they can eat them on campus. She says they try to keep the bags balanced with foods such as: a microwavable meal, a bottle of water and a fruit cup. Two times a month students can also come in and get a large bag of food to take home in order to help supplement their food budget when they’re not on campus.
“We do this because honestly we know food insecurity exists amongst our student population,” says Rood, “and it is very very difficult to learn when you are hungry. It is very difficult to retain information when you are hungry.”
Some of the ways the Eastern Michigan Food Bank is trying to help people in need is by focusing more on nutrition. Johnston says they have partnerships with farmers and they are opening a new solution center April 20. They will have volunteers repacking bulk truckloads of produce into smaller packs. They will also train other agencies to go over simple and affordable recipes.
“We have turned 180 degrees in the last 2 years to focus on the nutritional aspect,” says Johnston,”we will go to distribution sites with a line of 200, 300 people waiting to receive a bag of food and when they get an eggplant they’re going to know how to cook it, we’re going to have easy to make samples – easy to make samples that don’t cost a lot of money.”
Other topics that were discussed at the meeting were: what food insecurity meant to the panel members and how they were connected to the issue, duration of food insecurity, and gaps between the changing faces of need and the stereotypes or demonization of those who are struggling throughout society, federal policies, Bridge Card eligibility rules, education and nutrition among others.
At the end of the discussion the panel members answered questions from the audience. Some of the questions were how can people get involved with helping those who are in need, to what citizens can do when they see legislative policies that are affecting people’s accessibility to the food they need.
“[Policies] are set at the federal level,” says Attorney for the Center for Civil Justice, Jackie Doig, “if that is something that is affecting you, you need to let your elected officials know that it is bad policy.”
Sheryl Thompson, Deputy Director of Field Operations Administration of the Department of Human Services, says that people who are in need of Bridge Cards should never stop applying for them, even if they think they aren’t eligible.
“You don’t know what you are eligible for until you do, so we encourage you to apply. There are different categories, you apply and let the caseworker tell you what you are eligible for,” says Thompson.
Jennifer Duncan, Director of the Delta Food Pantry, said of the presentation, “It was very enlightening, and the panelists were a good representation of different points of view and expertise.”
As for what the panel members hope the audience learned at the forum?
“We hope they were informed, and hope they will become engaged. And when they hear about food insecurity they will see the bigger picture and be less judgmental,” concluded Johnston in agreement with the other members.