Editor’s note: As you enjoy gathering with friends and family for Thanksgiving feasts, we encourage you to think of our less fortunate neighbors who may not be able to experience the same bounty during the holidays.
Every year, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) releases a report on the household food security of the nation. The survey results indicated that 12.8 percent — 17 million households — were food insecure in 2022 and were statistically significantly higher than the 10.2 percent recorded in 2021.
Analyzing and interpreting data is perhaps the most crucial part of understanding the causes of hunger.
Directing the research teams at Baylor University is the country’s leading food security researcher, Craig Gundersen, the Snee Family Endowed Chair at the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty and a professor in the Department of Economics at Baylor University.
“Food insecurity occurs when a family doesn’t have enough food to lead an active healthy lifestyle,” said Gundersen. “As an R1 institution conducting groundbreaking research, we’re very interested in understanding more about food insecurity. We’re also a leading Christian university and so we’re particularly concerned about issues regarding the most vulnerable in our midst.”
The primary reason for hunger in the United States is underemployment. Working five days a week on minimum wage is simply not enough to pay the bills and put adequate food on the table. Decisions and trade-offs have to be made: Do you have to cancel today’s trip to the grocery store so you can pay the rent, the car payment, and childcare costs?
The second driver is for households where disabilities are present.
“The mission of the Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities is to promote the flourishing of children with disabilities and their families. We see people with disabilities as indispensable members of our schools, workplaces, congregations, and neighborhoods,” said Dr. Erik Carter, Luther Sweet Endowed Chair in Disabilities, and executive director of the Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities.
“More than one in ten children have a developmental disability, and for many families whose children experience disability, a constellation of factors can contribute to food insecurity,” he added. “For example, such families sometimes incur additional expenses related to their child’s medical bills, assistive technology, and other specialized care needs. Understanding and navigating a fragmented and inadequate service system can also be challenging, leaving families without the continuity of financial and other support they often need.”
Typical for colleges around the U.S., around seven percent of students identify as food insecure at public and private universities. To target food insecurity on campus, Steven Fernandez, director of Student Opportunity and Achievement Resources (SOAR), and Dr. Wes Null, who oversees part of the undergraduate experience for the Office of the Provost, started discussing initiatives that would make Baylor food secure and ensure that any student that comes to the university had their basic needs met so they can go all in on this educational opportunity.’
Baylor University began its campus-based food insecurity mission in Fall 2016 with the first Free Farmer’s Market, where hundreds of students can choose from thousands of pounds of local fresh produce. The on-campus food pantry, The Store, was opened in the Spring of 2018 and made bread, fresh produce, nonperishables, and feminine care products available for those in need. An associated initiative, The Fridge, provides mini-fridges at nine campus locations where students can get quick snacks and healthy meals. The newest program is The Daily Bread Café, which offers $2 meals with one protein, a starch, a vegetable, fruit, or a drink.
“Our Free Farmer’s Market — now bi-annual — stands out as our flagship event, drawing significant attention to our efforts to address food insecurity,” said Tre’ Baldwin, associate director of SOAR. “The Store has been exceptionally well-received by students, and The Fridge project is also gaining traction. Overall, these programs have yielded positive outcomes. They’ve provided tangible support to students in need and sparked important conversations about food insecurity on campus.”
Innovative ideas continue to gain traction to help students at Baylor University.
“One exciting development on the horizon is the introduction of an online store option. Recognizing that not all students can access our physical store during its operating hours, we’re excited to provide an online platform that offers convenience and accessibility to a wider range of students,” Baldwin said. “Additionally, we’re implementing a wrap-around service model that integrates our financial wellness program with our efforts to address food insecurity. By combining these two vital aspects of student support, we aim to provide holistic assistance that addresses both immediate needs and long-term financial stability.”
Originally named the Texas Hunger Initiative, the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty was established in 2009 to ensure that every Texan had access to three nutritional meals every day.
“It was just me in a cubicle back then,” said Dr. Jeremy Everett, founder and executive director of the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty. “We are now blessed with a great group of people including nearly 100 staff members, interns, and researchers. We also have the Hunger Data Lab where our in-house team provides data sets and informative reports to help drive solutions to food insecurity.”
As the organization grew over the past 15 years, it broke the boundaries of the university walls.
“We have staff members scattered throughout field offices around the state of Texas who are working with food-insecure populations and organizations that address food insecurity daily. And we also have 27,000 partner organizations, from churches and nonprofits to federal agencies, that we’re working with to design our interventions,” Dr. Everett said. “I’d also highlight the recent launch of a master’s degree in Theology, Ecology and Food Justice, led by Dr. Jenny Howell, a director of the George W. Truett Theological Seminary here on campus.”
The Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty is very active on a statewide front, working closely with the Texas Food Policy Roundtable, a broadly based group of Texas leaders who have joined forces to develop, coordinate, and improve the implementation of food policy to address hunger and promote equitable, sustainable, and healthy food in Texas.
“That was one of the first partnerships we made when we created the Texas Hunger Initiative,” Dr. Everett said. “We realized quickly that we needed to collaborate and work together and have a common legislative agenda to positively impact food insecurity. I think it’s like 35 organizations now, something massive, and I have to call out Rachel Cooper, director of Health & Food Justice at Every Texan, and Jamie Olson, director of Policy & Advocacy at Feeding Texas. They are consummate advocates who work tirelessly, they’re co-chairs of the Texas Food Policy Roundtable, and have done a marvelous job.”
Dr. Everett also works with the Texas legislature to pass bills that fight food insecurity.
“One thing the Texas Food Policy Roundtable was able to pass this last legislative session was allowing people who were approaching release from incarceration to apply for SNAP benefits,” Dr. Everett said.
Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) and Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano) filed companion bills in the Senate (SB727) and House (HB 1743) to support pre-release registration for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. This bipartisan legislation will help the more than 300,000 Texans currently on parole or probation to meet the challenges of reentering their communities.
Baylor University also has opportunities to serve in a number of capacities on a national level.
“From 2014 to 2016, I was appointed by Congress to serve on the National Commission on Hunger, a 10-member bipartisan commission tasked to identify why we had food insecurity in the U.S., what was working to address it, and what needed to be improved,” Dr. Everett said.
Dr. Everett was also a key attendee at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, & Health held on September 28, 2022, a historic event that included leaders in the food, nutrition, and healthcare spaces.
“It was great to hear the President talk about a strong commitment to addressing food insecurity,” Dr. Everett said. “In the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, one of our presuppositions that we work with is that no one organization or sector can end hunger by themselves, it inherently requires us all to work in a collaborative capacity. And it was great. He almost cited that verbatim from the diocese.”
The Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty has enjoyed a good working relationship with the World Food Programme over the past decade and looks forward to working with Cindy McCain, recently appointed executive director in April 2023.
“The WFP is amazing, and we are currently working with them on the Hunger-Free Guatemala program,” Dr. Everett said. “Our team is on the ground with the WFP team evaluating if some of their interventions are having an impact. We’re super thrilled and exploring what it would look like to work together in a more global capacity.”
Warming to his topic, Dr. Everett shared an experience he believes is the perfect illustration of how he and his team continue to make an impact. This particular story began back in the summer of 2019 with the launch of the Meals to You program, a 10-week demonstration project that delivered daily meals to 4,000 children in East and West Texas school districts.
“We knew we were onto something when Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico asked us to expand the program to their communities. But then the pandemic hit,” Dr. Everett said. “The undersecretary of the USDA explained that everything was going to be shut down, including schools, and asked me to scale our program nationwide. He first told me that it would involve 25,000 kids but the number kept escalating and we eventually launched the program to more than 270,000 kids in 43 states and Puerto Rico.”
The program was eventually translated into public policy as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, which became effective on December 29, 2022, with President Biden’s signature.
“Based in part on our Meals to You program, this means that children in rural America will be able to access a home-delivered meal option as a part of the Summer Food Service Program,” Everett said. “It just shows that amid all the political contention, it’s possible to move the needle for the food-insecure population. Right now, our farmers and ranchers are growing enough food to ensure that no one should go hungry anywhere on the planet. They’re doing their part. It’s the rest of us that have got to step up.”
