From insecurity to empowerment

LIVING | OUR WORLD

Excerpted from Combatting Food Insecurity: The Growth and effectiveness of Salvation Army food banks in developed countries*

60 million people turn to food banks in developed countries every year, representing about 7.2 percent of the world’s population. According to a research project conducted by The Salvation Army International Social Justice Commission (ISJC ), there has been a dramatic increase in the demand for food assistance in many developed countries and regions, from North America to Europe to Australia/Oceana.

The report also stated that the need for food banks will remain high and continue to increase in the future. Therefore, a concerted effort was taken throughout this research project to determine how The Salvation Army approaches this and can expand its effectiveness in bringing help to these communities.

Among other observations, the report stated that food banks are the Army’s primary modality to meeting this demand and combating hunger within vulnerable populations. But it also pointed out that a paradigm shift is needed from solely offering charitable contributions to providing education and awareness. Such efforts will help to empower populations to eradicate the underlying problems that are causing their food insecurity.

Dealing with the stigma

In many of the developed nations, food banks are considered socially unacceptable ways of acquiring food as they are perceived as charity. In this way, they are often considered as inhibitors to reducing food insecurity as they promote dependency and a welfare mentality in both recipients and providers. Security is dependent on its ability to employ food, justice, and community development principles, and empower the recipient to have control over the decisions that affect their lives.

Encouraging food assistance to be seen as a “hand up” rather than a “hand out” as a gateway to accessing services, such as budgeting classes, life skills courses, case management, education, and employment opportunities, as well as means of creating a sense of community and belonging, is crucial. The types of food programs that would utilize higher degrees of this framework, such as the community garden, community development programs, and school–based food programs are being used frequently by officers, employees, and volunteers.

It is presumed that the officers, employees, and volunteers serving were unaware of how to empower recipients to address the structural or institutional discrimination that they may be facing, which contributes to the current situation. Providing education and training on advocacy, social justice, addressing unfair systems, and structures and community mobilization may assist with this so that officers, employees, and volunteers can apply this to their own settings. Ensuring the recipients are provided with resources, opportunities, vocabulary, knowledge, and skills to increase their control over decision making in their lives is crucial to decreasing dependency on food assistance programs.

SDGs and Agenda 2030

Today, The Salvation Army is an active partner in pursuit of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly and made “actionable” in 2017. Listed among these interlinked objectives is “SDG 2: Zero Hunger.” These SDGs are part of what is known as Agenda 2030, stated by the UN as a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.”

*Combatting Food Insecurity: The Growth and effectiveness of Salvation Army food banks in developed countries by Caitlin Hallett and published by The Salvation Army International Social Justice Commission (2015). The study investigates the perception of officers, volunteers, and employees who are involved in the administration of food assistance regarding the growth of Army food banks. This extensive study also explores the food banks and their effectiveness concerning empowerment, sustainability, and reducing food insecurity as it examines the experiences of food bank recipients.

For further information, visit: www.salvationarmy.org/isjc