How can we connect and collaborate to combat the trajectory of our communal nutritional defects? In America we have a paradox of seemingly polar health issues where our population suffers simultaneously from obesity as well as food insecurity. According to the USDA the statistics used to note that one in six Americans suffer from hunger but in 2006 the wording was changed from hunger to a more scientifically explanatory term of food insecurity (Schulzke, 2012). While food assistance, often understood as food stamps or SNAP, is available the link between access to food is not always a clear connection towards elevating health in our communities through the distribution of these resources. Whether it confounds logic or not, those who are at highest risk for food insecurity – the poor or under privileged, can simultaneously be at high risk for obesity. What we want to explore is what are the potential causes for this dichotomy, for which we would ask readers to hold your assumptions for just a few moments, as well as what our communities may do to generate a better overall health for our neighbors as a healthy Lane County is of benefit to our social, communal and economic well-being. Making an impact in this arena of food insecurity which impacts children, generations and our society as a whole may be simpler than we think. Think connect, collaborate and combat. If you took a survey of why people think that others are obese, what would the bulk of the answers be? Poor eating choices and habits would likely top the list of most informal surveys, regardless of whether there is research that supports this public perception. What about this headline, “Soft Drinks No. 1 Purchase by Food Stamp Recipients,” where CNS News relayed a report by the Food and Nutrition Service showing that over $350 million dollars were spent on soft drinks as a grocery selection that far surpassed any other food commodity (Jeffrey, 2016). The headline is catchy and would be a confirmation bias for anyone who would want to prove that those on government assistance are perpetually making poor choices with regards to health, as though to say it was their own fault and/or they reap what they sow. Yet, in this same article the study notes that purchasing patterns were similar between households receiving Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) funds and those that were not, so much so that, “The top two commodities were the same for SNAP and non-SNAP households.” The veil between those on assistance and those who are not receiving help from the government isn’t that thick, we share many of the same bad habits when it comes to our purchasing patterns, our meal planning and our utilization of healthy food resources. The first step to effective connection, collaboration and combat of this issue is to understand that we are connected whether we like it or not. Households utilizing SNAP benefits, synonymous with food stamps, on average are taking in the same amount of calories as non-SNAP households, yet many of those homes receiving assistance are eating less nutritious (even if in some cases only marginally so). Individuals and families who do not receive government assistance for food don’t score remarkably higher than those on food stamps, as according to University of Connecticut researcher and author Tatiana Andreyeva, “The average American scored 58 out of 100 – a failing grade – on the Healthy Eating Index (Godoy, 2015).” Our habits are more similar between socio-economic classes than we may want to admit. For many individuals and families, vegetables often are consumed in the form of delicious pizza toppings and the preferential preparation of starches is through deep frying. In the same study for the Healthy Eating Index the average food stamp recipient did score lower than non-SNAP individuals, but marginally so as their scores were 47-51 out of 100, a 7-9% variance between groups. If there is a common thread of low health scores between citizens who receive food assistance as well as those who do not receive these benefits, how can our communities work to elevate our overall knowledge and commitment to health? We understand that we are connected whether we like it or not, so to build upon that connection we need to recognize that everyone could benefit from understanding how to identify healthy options as well as how to prepare them in a way that is appealing. Regardless of your economic status, if you were handed a beautiful eggplant would you know what it was as well as how to prepare it? For most people if a recipe has eggplant in the title or the ingredients list it would be an automatic swipe left to reject that meal. The fear of the unknown can be powerful, especially when it comes to food. There is a gap in the general knowledge base for how to meal plan as it relates to working within the budget you have available for groceries, whether this budget is supplemented by assistance programs or not. Meal planning can save time and money as well as contribute to health while reducing waste. It is estimated that as much as 25% of the food purchased in America is thrown away (Garrett, 2014). Think of how much effort goes into a family making it to the grocery store - making some kind of list, getting the kids in the vehicle, traveling to the store, making it through the store with all members of the family intact and in the same condition they arrived in, waiting in line, getting all the items and people back into the vehicle, returning home and putting everything away – only to throw away a quarter of the products that were procured during that expedition. Wasted time, money and resource, all of which we have an ever reducing supply of. Meal planning can help you plan your calories to achieve your nutrition goals, trim needless waste and save you money/resources that could be more effectively spent for personal or family financial goals. We know we are connected, we know we need to expand our food education and as we build upon that we need to strengthen our connection with resources that assist us to function within our means. There are resources available online to assist with planning as well as people or organizations within your community that can provide assistance for resource allocation as it relates to meeting your nutrition, health and financial goals, connect. As noted by mother of six and San Diego based food planner, Jessica Fisher of goodcheapeats.com, she suggests starting with the meals that your family usually likes, map those out on a calendar and then experiment with recipes you find to add those into your rotation (Garrett, 2014). Tools don’t have to be sophisticated but writing out a mean plan on the calendar can be the first step towards putting and efficient grocery shopping list together. Now we face our second nutritional void – knowing how to cook something tasty with that beautiful eggplant we received in the preceding paragraph. How do we prepare it, what seasonings do we use, what do we pair it with and how long do we cook it for? On the comparison lists of top 20 commodity items purchased by households that receive SNAP assistance as well as those that don’t, fresh vegetables do not make the list for either group (see Figure 1, Delaney & Scheller, 2016), again showing that this issue with lack of food knowledge thins the veil that separates the classes. Statistics like these demonstrate that we as American’s on the whole are underperforming in our planning, preparation and execution of healthy eating. A community that wants to make changes that will impact local health across barriers, sharing knowledge for meal planning as well as tips for meal preparation can make deep impacts to the benefit of all ages, groups and classes on through to the broader application in making for a healthier America. The food resources are there, the knowledge for planning, the skills for preparation and the ability to package this all together is an effort that will benefit all of us as humans for years to come – or we can continue on the trajectory we are on as a nation. We know we are connected, we know we need education, we know we need to live in our means and now we add these pieces of connection and build that into collaboration. If the SNAP program is creating programs such as the Double Up Food Bucks program which rewards those on assistance for making healthy choices with their food stamps (Godoy, 2015), how can we help teach those recipients to utilize these resources? If we have resources such as food banks, community gardens and food share programs that are energized by grass roots commitment to the idea that we can all connect and collaborate to solve those issues that we can control. Obesity and food scarcity are issues that we can solve, the resources area there. Arguably global hunger is a solvable issues as it is not a matter of resource shortage, according to Joshua Muldavin, a geography professor at Sarah Lawrence College who focuses on global food and agricultural instruction, “We have two or three times the amount of food right now that is needed to feed the number of people in the world (Koba, 2013).” If we go back to the 25% waste for items purchased and could change that through better meal planning by creating grocery lists that fit within our health goals, grocery lists that meet our budgetary realities and combining that with the expanded skills that provide us with the ability to cook food that is nutritional as well as tasty, we could make big changes at the local level. Change ripples as individuals become groups who affect communities who create a movement that affects a region and on to the nation and then beyond. Through connection we can collaborate and with both those elements in motion we can begin to combat the issues of obesity as well as food insecurity, the question is not whether we can do but whether we will do it. Reference:
Schulzke, Eric. “A food stamp paradox: Starving isn’t the issue – it’s access to nutritious foods.” Desert News. April 28, 2012, http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765572050/A-food-stamp-paradox-Starving-isnt-the-issue-2-its-access-to-nutritious-foods.html Jeffrey, Terence. “Soft drinks No. 1 purchase by food stamp recipients; $357,700,000 from 1 grocery chain.” CNS News. November 22, 2016, http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/357700000-1-grocery-chain-soft-drinks-no-1-purchase-food-stamp Godoy, Maria. “How America’s wealth gap shows up on our dinner plates.” NPR. September 15, 2015, http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/18/441143723/people-on-food-stamps-eat-less-nutritious-food-than-everyone-else Delaney, Arthur & Scheller, Alissa. “Here’s what people buy with food stamps.” Huffington Post. November 21, 2016, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/food-stamps-diet_us_582f4bd7e4b058ce7aaadea0 Koba, Mark. “A hungry world: Lots of food, in too few places.” CNBC. July 22, 2013, http://www.cnbc.com/id/100893540
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If you need a boost of hope to recharge your belief that you can make a difference and to hear stories of inspiration of every day people making a difference, take a listen to the Upstanders podcast. A recent episode titled The Hunger Hack discussed how a young school aged girl was volunteering at a local food bank and noticed an issue which she dared to believe she could find a way to solve. The story reminded me of something that I had heard at a volunteer event in a community garden where the presenter noted that many families, even if they have access to fresh foods, don't know how to meal plan or cook with many whole ingredients. Many of our habits around food are learned from the environment we were raised in so our approach to healthy eating plans, grocery budgets, exposure to unique food options and our knowledge of how to prepare meals may be limited by our up bringing. For many who have are using or have had to utilize government assistance for essential services such as food stamps (myself included - read HERE), even if you had access to good food you may need some help understanding how to make the provisions stretch and well as how to prepare them so that they taste good. If a community garden can grow beautiful eggplants, which is a great accomplishment, how can we maximize that resource to teach individuals and families how to prepare delicious meals with the ingredients that are available? Let me know if you are interested in this as well or if you know people and resources that are already working on this area of need, please reach out through the CONTACT page. If you need some ideas, we have a few that we have created using basic ingredients and a crockpot - check our videos for Crockpot Recipes for Large Families HERE. Often networking meetings follow a strict format of allowing for a few minutes for interaction, smash in a business pitch for the sponsors, hit everyone with a lengthy lecture style presentation, perhaps squeeze in one more pitch and then disperse. Business networking in this sense is very similar to church, get in and get out while speaking to as few people as possible, meanwhile the power of connection and collaboration is never harvested from the gathering. Lectures from professionals can provide a level of exposure to information that attendees might otherwise have had access to, which is a positive addition, but with so little time created for interaction to build trust, relationships or engagement the potential often flat lines. Our communities, personal and professional, are rich with individuals who have years of experience that compliment our areas of inexperience if only we would take the time to connect. Networking meetings are a medium where attendees have set aside time from their busy schedules to participate and it would be a great benefit to all parties if more of an emphasis was placed on connection and collaboration at the community level. We have been working to build a peer to peer network for local facilities, maintenance and risk professionals which we call Local Facilities Manager's Connection (LFMC). In many ways we are breaking all the trends as we do not charge members to participate, members host at their locations to minimize costs and our primary focus is centered around discussion of a relevant topic to connect our industry peers and enable collaboration of ideas as well as resources in our community. You can read more about the LFMC network in our article featured in Facility Executive HERE and check the group out through their website - localfacilities.com. How have you been working to create connection and collaboration in your community? Many entrepreneurs and business leaders are understanding the benefits of both having a mentor who can assist them with growth as well as being involved with mentoring others. In talking with many of these individuals we are finding that people are having difficulty making the time to identify, pursue and connect with potential members. Interested parties are concerned about being an encumbrance upon those they are approaching and often those who are most willing to be in a mentor relationship already have individuals under their wings. For tips on identifying the right mentor, read our article published with The Daily Positive HERE. While mentorship is something that everyone should continue to pursue, while you are in that quest don't forget to reap the benefits of simple discussions with other entrepreneurs and business leaders who are also in the trenches. We can learn from those who are starting out - perhaps soaking up their start up passion. We can learn from those who serve as our peers - everyone has lessons learned from experience that they can share. We can be mutual sounding boards for ideas, encouragement to recharge our batteries while persevering in the fight and we can share perspectives that we might otherwise miss without additional input. Continue your search for a mentor but while you are at it schedule to have coffee with someone and get a good discussion going as mentorship can happen at many levels and in many forms. Mentorship can also happen in group settings through peer collaboration, read more on professional connection HERE. What is your experience with mentorship - how were you able to get the relationship started? |
AuthorThoughts on personal and professional development. Jon Isaacson, The Intentional Restorer, is a contractor, author, and host of The DYOJO Podcast. The goal of The DYOJO is to help growth-minded restoration professionals shorten their DANG learning curve for personal and professional development. You can watch The DYOJO Podcast on YouTube on Thursdays or listen on your favorite podcast platform.
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