March 29th: The Line and Food Insecurity

     Today's class was emotional for me because we watched the video "The Line" featured on 60 Minutes. The film hit close to home because it was filmed in Appalachian Ohio. Many people do not realize that hunger and food insecurity is occurring in America, much less in Ohio right outside of our small college town bubble of Ohio University. Listening to the interviews with people who must wait in line for free food was heartbreaking for me, mainly because of the sadness and feelings of helplessness in their faces and their voices. I could not even imagine growing up in a household where $74/week must pay the bills, gas to get to work, and provide food for a family of 4 or more. The most surprising thing to me was that many of the people waiting in line for food were part of the working class. Even hard-working individuals are not able to provide enough for their families and resort to food pantries, and other free or reduced cost food programs. Especially after working on a project dealing with food insecurity and delivering food to low-income and poverty-stricken homes, this was very eye-opening to me and allowed me to witness these issues first hand. More programs and assistance is needed and I hope that in the near future, the amount of hungry individuals will decrease and more people will become aware of this serious issue millions of individuals are currently experiencing.

What is Community Nutrition all About?

      Before I walked into Community Nutrition class on Tuesday I really was not sure what I was in for, other than what I had heard from previous classes about eating on $2 a day. After class I had a deeper understanding of what community nutrition is all about. Community nutrition encompasses a number of different things such as sustainability, support for local foods, and moving towards a healthier diet and lifestyle with assistance of our neighbors, friends, family, or others who share similar interests. Community Nutrition can also be looked at on a governmental level, thinking about laws and regulations that govern our societies in terms of funding and agricultural standards, for example.
     I am excited to garden in this class, and I hope to learn more about gardening procedures and when to plant specific foods in order to result in an edible end product. I have gardened before, but I feel that I will gain a deeper understanding of techniques and gardening practices in this class. I am also looking forward to working in small groups on the project and meeting new people. Lastly, I am looking forward to the Locavore Brunch because I believe that eating local foods is incredibly important and I love to cook!