Food insecurity, defined as the condition of not having access to sufficient food or food of an adequate quality to meet one’s basic needs, is an increasingly In simpler terms, according to AP Environment teacher Mandy Kotraba, “Food insecurity just means you don’t know where your next meal is coming from on a day to day basis”. Food insecurity can be caused for a multitude of reasons but mainly happen due to poverty or living in a food desert. In simple terms, a food desert is described as an area that is an enclosed proximity to a supermarket or grocery store, limiting their access to fresh food and nutrients.
“If you’re living in poverty, you’re gonna have less access to good, healthy foods. But in addition to that, you could be very rich and live in the middle of nowhere, and that’s called the food desert. And so you might not have access to food in the same way. Now, obviously, if you’re rich, you can get your hands on food, but there are two things at play. Number one is lack of funds to get food, and then number two, possibly being in a place that’s too rural to have access to fresh food,” Kotraba said “A lot of people think that there aren’t any hungry people in America because we don’t have starving babies with their bellies protruding. But, in our class (AP Environmental), we talked about how when you’re living in poverty in America, you often have access to highly processed foods. So we might be on the flip side. You might see a child who is obese because the food that they do have access to is high in calories, but not nutrients. So you might have problems with obesity. It might lead to hypertension like a heart attack. There is a direct connection between living and poverty and type two diabetes, which, of course, is connected to the type of foods that you have access to.”
According to Feeding America, it is estimated based on people have reported needing $624,946,000 more per year in order to keep up with the demand in Missouri alone. Many areas in Missouri that experience food insecurity because they’re in a food desert. The most food insecure areas in MO aren’t in the city but are rather in rural areas almost nobody has ever even heard of. Even well off people living in a food desert could be suffering from food insecurity just because of their lack of access to fresh food. Nobody wants to drive an hour there and back just to go to the grocery store. Not only is it impractical but it is also time consuming and with gas can be highly expensive.
The St. Louis County area is different in the sense that rather than not having access to fresh food, some can’t afford it. As stated by St Louis area food bank 1 in every 7 people in Eastern Missouri and Southwestern Illinois currently are suffering from hunger. Though, Eureka is lucky in the sense that we have our beloved Eureka Food Pantry. Starting in the 70s, 14 small churches joined together to form the Eureka Ministerial Alliance under the idea that they can all help support a mini food pantry together serving just around 15 families. While the Eureka Ministerial Alliance has fizzled out since, the Eureka food pantry continues to thrive with the help of the community.
“The beauty of the eureka food pantry is that we are 100% volunteer run, and 100% donation driven. It encourages me so much that our community does stand, you know, just, like, step up and donate and give to people who simply express a need,” Audrey Bell, said.
During the COVID pandemic a local church called the River granted the Eureka Food Pantry space to house their items and pay the electric bill. The pantry has continued to grow throughout the years now feeding around 100 families, sometimes even spiking to numbers around 150.
“It’s not always the same thing,” Bell said. “We might have a family that will come, they’ll hit a hard time, and maybe it’s a loss of job. Maybe they’re new to the community, you know, whatever circumstances bring them to our door. We’ll see them for one, two or three months. And then we might never see them again. Then the next jump is probably people who we see for four to six months or so. We have very, very few people, it’s like a 5% range of people who come month after month after month. It’s mostly people who just need a little bit of help, which is kind of what our mission is to help people that have gotten into a sticky situation and just need a little bit of help. That’s our greatest number of people that come and use the pantry.”
There are other resources that fight food insecurity. One of the ways that is a huge help to children is the free and reduced lunch program which is at countless schools.
“If poverty is the root cause of food insecurity, there are a couple programs in America that help with that. The first one is the free and reduced lunch program, which happens at elementary, middle and high schools in the Rockwood school district,” Kotraba said. “Based on your family’s income and the number of people in your family, you might be eligible for the program, and that means when you go down to lunch, you either get your lunch at a reduced price or possibly for free.”
Within Rockwood it doesn’t matter the grade, school, or anything else, if you meet the criteria to be in the free in reduced lunch program you are accepted.
In addition to the free and reduced lunch program, there is Women, Infants, and Children also known as WIC. This government funded program works to provide nutrient dense food to mothers and their children. There is also Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) which to many is just considered to be food stamps. This program aims to provide people in poverty with easy to get proper nutrients and most of the time doesn’t even allow people to buy “junk food” like cake or chips with their stamps. These programs are a large contributor to giving impoverished people food and keeping them from starving.
“I think it’s important to realize that even though you might go home to a really good meal, there are a lot of students who don’t have that same access and and maybe put yourself in the position that, you know, you could be sitting next to someone that’s food insecure in the classroom and not even know it,” Kotraba said.
So many people go through their day thinking that they live in a community where hardship such as being food insecure doesn’t happen when in reality it does happen it just happens under the surface. It’s important to acknowledge the issues in your community. One of the easiest but costly ways to help fight food insecurity in the community is donating to the food pantry, more specifically donating what they really need.
“You know, something hearty. Nutrients. That’ll really feed a family. Canned fruits, they’re a little more expensive, but families with a toddler or school age children, who don’t have access or don’t buy fresh, open a can of peaches. Hearty stews, or soupy, where you open it up, and it’s a meal in a can. It doesn’t have to be the name brand, but those canned protein products like tuna and chicken. There’s a product out there called Spam, and things like that, it’s shelf stable, and it will go a long way to eating a family. Another big thing is items like hamburger helper,” Said Bell, “So, just if people were aware and keep in mind feeding a family, open a can up, and you can use it right here, right now,”
It’s easy and cost friendly to just donate ramen, or pasta sauce but donating something that is better for the body and replenishes the body. Overly processed food will keep their stomachs full but won’t nourish a body nor prevent undernourishment. It is also helpful to volunteer at the food pantry. As previously mentioned, they function solely off of volunteers so by spending even just a few hours of time could benefit them.
While food insecurity continues to be a problem in Missouri, it is an even bigger problem in developing countries. Many places in Africa such as Nigeria and Sudan continue to suffer from mass food insecurity. While they are thousands of miles away, there are still ways to help. There are food packing companies such as Feed My Starving Children and Rise Against Hunger that accept donations that contribute to funding their food packing events. In addition, the Eureka High School chapter of National Honors Society is working towards raising money to bring Rise Against Hunger and hold their own food packing event sometime in the next year. These events and companies help to bring nutrient dense meals to families suffering from undernourishment.
Fighting food insecurity is a long battle that has been going on for forever and most likely will continue to be a prominent issue in society but giving to the cause can help lessen the amount of people suffering.
“You’re volunteers and donations are so important because you have all these people to help, but it’s not like you’re getting money from anywhere to do it,” Bell said. “No, we aren’t an agency so we don’t get government funds. If somebody is needing tax receipts for charitable reasons, there are ways that we can do that, but it doesn’t actually reflect as a donation to the food pantry.”
Fighting food insecurity is a long battle that has been going on for forever and most likely will continue to be a prominent issue in society but giving to the cause can help lessen the amount of people suffering. Many people don’t realize how many blessings they have and how much others are suffering but being able to acknowledge what is going on in the world around us is the first step to helping. Eureka is fortunate to have the food pantry and many resources accessible to them but not everywhere has it. It’s important for people to help however they can.
“I am so encouraged. I am aware of the blessing in my own life, and I have not had to take from the pantry, but I am so encouraged, and I know part of that blessing is, I live in a community. Well, okay, that supports us, the way they do. And if I ever needed help, right here in Eureka, even with all of our bump sores and bruises, Eureka, Missouri, there are people just good people who are willing to help, just because somebody said they need help,” Bell said.
