FOOD SECURITY

November 22, 9:58 AMRoanoke Homelessness ExaminerLauren Ellerman

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Roanoke Homelessness Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

US Department of Agriculture Food Security 2008

US Department of Agriculture

If I were to ask you, what is "Homeland security" many of you would respond that it is a government agency created after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. You would be right.

But what about "Food security?" What does that mean?

Last week (Nov. 2009) the US Department of Agriculture reported that over 17 million households in the United States were "food insecure." They define the term to mean that at some point during the year, 17 million Americans had struggled to provide food for their family.

The study found 16.7 million children were "food insecure." The largest group of Americans that were considered food insecure, are single women with children.

What options exist for these 17 million people? Maybe family or friends will help in times of need. Perhaps local churches, food banks and pantries are filling bare cabinets. Many are seeking emergency services and financial assistance to prevent hunger. Still others with no access to help, are simply eating less or going hungry.

If you read today's Roanoke Times the plight of "food insecure" Virginians is not lost on you.

Elizabeth Strother rights in the Horizon section about the need for food contributions in our area.

The Times also kicks off their annual Good Neighbor Fund drive to benefit emergency services at RAM. Last year over $190,000 was raised to prevent homelessness in the Valley. This year as the need of many increases, so will the needs of the Good Neighbor Fund.

Or maybe you read the Ad in the Virginia section about the Rescue Mission's Health Clinic to the homeless which provides millions of dollars of free health care to those in need.

So yes, we all acknowledge that there is GREAT need in our back yards. But let us also acknowledge and be glad that many are working to help those in need. So what can you do about it?

Give of your time and talents to help those who are unable to provide food for their families by volunteering.

Contribute to the Good Neighbors Fund on Roanoke.com.

Be sensitive to the needs of others and grateful for your blessings.

As Beth Strother quotes in her Op-Ed today, "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." FDR.