Nate Feltman: Food insecurity is a solvable problem

Last week, Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana and IBJ Media teamed up for the eighth annual IBJ Hunger & Health Breakfast in an effort to further engage the business community in combatting food insecurity. Each year, I walk away from this event armed with new facts about the increasing challenge posed by food insecurity and absolutely inspired by Gleaners’ commitment to address the challenge of hunger in our community.

Often when we think of food insecurity, the first thought that comes to mind is someone not having enough food or knowing where the next meal will come from. While there are millions of Americans and hundreds of millions of people around the world who fit this description, there are also millions who are not starving but are dying as a result of poor nutrition and access to healthy food at an affordable price.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, poor nutrition is associated with more than half a million American deaths per year. Unfortunately, the situation is not improving. Studies show that the majority of children in America today will be obese by the time they are 35 years old. Children in food insecure households are more likely to have reduced immune system functioning, poor body weight, asthma, higher rates of anxiety and depression, and higher use of emergency rooms.

The hunger challenge among our youth and the associated health consequences affect academic performance and achievement, leading to tremendous societal costs. Children who experience food insecurity miss more school, are more likely to repeat a grade and are less likely to graduate from high school compared to food-secure children. College students who are food insecure are 40% less likely to graduate, according to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Gleaners CEO Fred Glass shared that 1 million Hoosiers are facing hunger, including more than 300,000 children. Fred explained that not only is food insecurity devastating for those who are hungry, but it is devastating to our communities. According to Feeding America, in Indiana alone, food insecurity adds $1.8 billion to health care costs. And incidents of violent crime increase when households experience food insecurity.

The need for nutritious meals is greater today than it was during the pandemic. Too many Hoosier families spend a disproportionate amount of their income on food and rent, increasing food insecurity in our communities. And hunger doesn’t only impact the unemployed. In fact, the majority of food insecure families have a full-time employed family member but still come up short on providing their families nutritious meals on a regular basis.

Gleaners is doing its part to meet the food insecurity challenge. Gleaners served 53,419,414 meals to food-insecure Hoosiers in its 21-county service area last year, an increase of 11.2% over 2023 and 106% more than in 2019, the year before the pandemic.

New and innovative efforts are underway to help meet the increasing need and to fund the increasing costs. Pacers Coach Rick Carlisle inspired the “Drive & Dish” initiative, which uses Gleaners-developed technology to distribute food more efficiently to those in need in Marion County. The Pacers Foundation plans to expand the program to communities around the state. The Colts’ “Huddle Against Hunger” partnership with Gleaners brings added resources and attention to the hunger challenge.

Colts Vice President of Communications Steve Campbell said it well: Food insecurity is a solvable problem.

Let’s work with Gleaners to ensure that no Hoosier experiences food insecurity and eliminate hunger in Indiana.•

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Feltman is publisher of IBJ and CEO of IBJ Media. Send comments to [email protected].