Tag: food access

Can We Force People to Eat Healthy?

For years, there’s been debate in anti-hunger circles about the need to improve the diet and health of people experiencing hunger. Most recently, discussion has revived around adding purchasing restrictions to SNAP to make soda, candy, ice cream, and prepared desserts ineligible for purchase with benefits.

On the surface, it sounds like a great idea. Assuming that people just need to be directed towards healthier options, this would be an efficient policy. Because Americans generally believe that poverty results from making poor choices, it’s easy to accept that people experiencing hunger need help making better choices. We’ve also all been conditioned to believe that people using SNAP are trying to manipulate the system, which makes it easier to accept that they need extra restrictions.

However, this policy proposal does not improve health, recognize current barriers to food security, or respect the dignity of people experiencing hunger. Empowering people to eat healthier benefits everyone, but this policy proposal fails to do so.

There’s no evidence that people who use SNAP have a worse diet than people who don’t.

This should immediately call into question why SNAP has been chosen to be the policy tool for this crusade.

If this policy seeks to reduce junk food consumption, why does it only restrict people receiving benefits? Specifically targeting vulnerable, low-income demographics for a society-wide issue is disingenuous and inequitable.

After working in anti-hunger spaces for nearly fifteen years, I’ve learned from thousands of people seeking food assistance. Overwhelmingly, these individuals demonstrate that they know how to eat healthy.

Ask at any food pantry, and staff will tell you that quality fresh produce is always in highest demand and shortest supply. We see too many food pantry photos of shopping carts loaded with potato chips because that’s all they have- it’s not that shoppers are choosing them over healthier options.

People experiencing hunger know as well as any other demographic what healthy eating looks like.

The barrier isn’t knowledge or choice; it’s access. Fresh foods are more expensive than processed. Critics like to point out that an apple is cheaper than a bag of frozen chicken nuggets, but they ignore the reality that an apple is not a meal. An apple, peanut butter, and fixings for a sandwich on whole wheat bread is significantly more expensive than a bag of frozen chicken nuggets. By calorie, healthy foods are more expensive.

What would these SNAP restrictions achieve?

Since adding restrictions to SNAP do not increase the budget of beneficiaries, eliminating the purchase of certain foods reduces choice. By making unhealthy options inaccessible, it does not make healthy foods more accessible.

SNAP funds are so inadequate that they have always forced people to prioritize the cheapest foods. The choice has never been between a bag of chips or a vegetable stir fry.

This policy intends to assert the idea that people experiencing poverty need the leadership of people who have never been food insecure, which is condescending, paternalistic, and completely ignorant.

It also takes away the chance for recipients to practice self-care through food. Facing the incredible challenges of today’s world, everyone deserves the freedom to buy the foods that make us feel comforted, safe, and nourished, even if they’re not always the healthiest.

If policy makers really cared about the health and diet of SNAP recipients, they would be fighting to increase SNAP benefits. If they really feared the risks that junk food poses to Americans, they’d be working to reduce access for the entire population.

This policy just intends to be cruel towards and already vulnerable population.

The opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.

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How to Build a Welcoming Food Pantry

I often hear food pantry staff complain that there are neighbors and community members experiencing hunger who simply won’t use their food pantry. Although I hear this less often as food pantries see rising hunger rates, it’s still not unusual for staff and volunteers to recognize specific communities that they simply can’t entice to the pantry.

I regularly hear surprise and confusion at the thought that someone experiencing hunger might not seek out or want their help and resources. Although there are many underlying reasons why people may not attend the food pantry, it usually boils down to not feeling welcome.

Our society’s idea of creating a welcoming atmosphere often stops at colorful murals and smiling volunteers.

This is a great starting point but isn’t likely to attract someone who is already reluctant or uncomfortable about visiting (especially because of systemic/historic barriers).

Food pantry staff and volunteers are usually wealthy, white, English-speaking, cis women who are working high-income jobs or retirees. Few have experienced hunger and often have little exposure to the cultural norms or language of the communities they’re trying to approach. As a result, their efforts at outreach and a welcoming environment can feel awkward, artificial, or fake. No one wants to visit a food pantry just to make the volunteers feel good, but that’s often the expectation these efforts can invoke.

Building a welcoming environment starts with:

  • Advertising pantry services in the language spoken by the community. This should include hiring a translator to read all your marketing materials rather than running it through Google translate. Ideally, it also means having a translator or service on site during distribution hours to explain the process to community members who attend. This makes the pantry infinitely more accessible and less intimidating for people who aren’t familiar with the concept, frightened by the process, or worried about the requirements. One of my favorite local pantries offers a weekly distribution entirely in Spanish.
  • Building community.

Food pantries shouldn’t exist in a bubble.

Send representation to community meetings, local government gatherings, potlucks at neighboring churches, and listen to your community’s needs. You’re far more likely to get honest feedback and build trust while weeding the community garden or picking garbage off the street than interrogating someone across a desk. This can help your organization learn what it can do to offer effective support for your neighbors, which may require changing your current operations.

It’s quite likely that a pantry run by people of predominantly western European backgrounds may not be familiar with the foods that your clients want, and don’t even know what they don’t know about them.

Consider hiring a community chef to do a cooking lesson or taste test for volunteers, staff, and neighbors to learn more. I’ve often seen volunteers throw out foods they aren’t familiar with, which is a direct deterrence to shoppers.

  • Offering flexible systems. Some people are comfortable waiting in long lines, while others may naturally crowd up to the front. Some shoppers might seek extensive guidance and oversight from staff while others prefer to be completely independent. Develop systems that allow for these differences which can be cultural as much as personal preference.

The opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.

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