Food Security in Our Community

Symposium Series: March 2017

About one in seven people in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area are considered “food insecure”.* That means more than 100,000 of our neighbors often face the choice of buying food or paying for other urgent needs like rent, utilities or medication.

On March 22, local experts in the field engaged the audience in a thoughtful discussion about the causes of and local responses to food insecurity.

Food insecurity** refers to a lack of reliable access to sufficient quantities of affordable, nutritious food. Poverty is, of course, a key factor, due to lack of financial resources. Food insecurity can also be due, in part, to living in an area that lacks nearby stores that sell fresh and healthy food.

• Susan Ogborn, president and CEO of Food Bank for the Heartland moderated the discussion. The panelists were:
• Craig Howell – Shared Services Coordinator, Hunger Collaborative
• Rachel Olive – Executive Director, Hunger Free Heartland
• Adi Pour – Ph.D., Director, Douglas County Health Department
• Courtney Pinard – Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition

*“Food Insecure People”. (March 6, 2017). Retrieved from http://map.feedingamerica.org/.
**https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/definitions-of-food-security.aspx

You can view the white paper written on Food Security in Our Community, here.