Running head: HUNGER IN AMERICA 1 HUNGER IN AMERICA 2 Hunger in America Hunger in America In America, more than one in every five children is at the risk of hunger. Hunger and food security know no boundaries. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) outlines that food security is the lack of access to enough food for all the embers in the household. On the other hand, hunger denotes the weakness, discomfort or illnesses associated with long-term lack of food. In the recent years, there is a significant increase in the number of families that are food insecure. The above is because the crippling economy of the United States is invigorating high rates in unemployment, homelessness, and hunger. A plethora of evidence and research findings suggest that the trends of food security in America correspond to the national poverty levels which indicate the food security and hunger has a significant correlation to income (Lundeen et al., 2017). The topic of hunger is essential because food prices, hunger, and poverty have an inextricable connection. Millions of individuals in the global paradigm live with hunger since they do not have the financial capacity to purchase food. The value of service learning in effecting positive change for hunger is that it provides a basal framework that it empowers communities by strengthening their self-reliance and encourages individuals to establish food banks at the community level. Service learning is creating an essential and solid foundation that incentivizes the community to develop self-reliant, sustainable and hunger-free communities. Community organization alludes to the process of individuals coming together in tackling and addressing core issues that are affecting them. Simply put, community organization undertakes a set of activities at the community level with the cardinal intent of spearheading the attainment of the desired improvements and changes to the social wellbeing of groups and individuals. In the context of America, community organizations are instrumental in providing real and community-oriented solutions to poverty and hunger. A significant populace in America struggles to cater for their basic needs. A majority of the families are not only experiencing hunger, but they also have to struggle with unemployment, homelessness and health issues. The aforestated affirms that the prevalent issue of hunger does not exist in isolation. According to the research study by Hunger in America 2014, 57% of the respondents suggested that they have to choose between paying rent and purchasing food and 69% have to choose between buying foods and paying utilities (Thomson, 2017). The above is the core reason why community organizations spearhead for the adoption of self-reliant and sustainable appro ...

1. Running head: HUNGER IN AMERICA
1
HUNGER IN AMERICA
2
Hunger in America
Hunger in America
In America, more than one in every five children is at the risk
of hunger. Hunger and food security know no boundaries. The
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) outlines that
food security is the lack of access to enough food for all the
embers in the household. On the other hand, hunger denotes the
weakness, discomfort or illnesses associated with long-term
lack of food. In the recent years, there is a significant increase
in the number of families that are food insecure. The above is
because the crippling economy of the United States is
invigorating high rates in unemployment, homelessness, and
hunger. A plethora of evidence and research findings suggest
that the trends of food security in America correspond to the
national poverty levels which indicate the food security and

2. hunger has a significant correlation to income (Lundeen et al.,
2017). The topic of hunger is essential because food prices,
hunger, and poverty have an inextricable connection. Millions
of individuals in the global paradigm live with hunger since
they do not have the financial capacity to purchase food. The
value of service learning in effecting positive change for hunger
is that it provides a basal framework that it empowers
communities by strengthening their self-reliance and encourages
individuals to establish food banks at the community level.
Service learning is creating an essential and solid foundation
that incentivizes the community to develop self-reliant,
sustainable and hunger-free communities.
Community organization alludes to the process of individuals
coming together in tackling and addressing core issues that are
affecting them. Simply put, community organization undertakes
a set of activities at the community level with the cardinal
intent of spearheading the attainment of the desired
improvements and changes to the social wellbeing of groups and
individuals. In the context of America, community
organizations are instrumental in providing real and community-
oriented solutions to poverty and hunger. A significant populace
in America struggles to cater for their basic needs. A majority
of the families are not only experiencing hunger, but they also
have to struggle with unemployment, homelessness and health
issues. The aforestated affirms that the prevalent issue of
hunger does not exist in isolation. According to the research
study by Hunger in America 2014, 57% of the respondents
suggested that they have to choose between paying rent and
purchasing food and 69% have to choose between buying foods
and paying utilities (Thomson, 2017). The above is the core
reason why community organizations spearhead for the adoption
of self-reliant and sustainable approaches that bring all the
stakeholders together with the aim of solving the complex and
interconnected issue of hunger.
Community partnerships provide a framework that engages
entities and community agencies such as Feeding America in

3. engaging families in a productive way and motivating the
families to assume the proactive role of eradicating hunger in
their communities. Feeding America encourages community
partnership by incentivizing volunteers and other agencies to
provide food banks and other resources that improve the
community-based outcomes (Goodall, 2016). Consequently, one
of the most exciting aspects of service learning in enhancing
community partnership is by encouraging the communities and
various stakeholders to adopt an outcome-focused approach in
addressing the issue of hunger. It stimulates communities to
undertake a comprehensive needs evaluation and the
identification of the most effective ways of engaging
individuals in the society. The approach increases community
partnership as it encourages individuals to dive deep and come
up with cogent solutions that would bring about long-lasting
impacts to the community.
In the recent past, cross-cultural management policymakers and
scholars are researching on the factors that are essential and can
ensure food supply as well as distribution in the most efficient
manner in both the community, regional and international
levels. The combined knowledge of cultures interactions,
cultural intelligence, and cultural differences enhances the
effective integration of community-level knowledge into a
national process that will bring about long-lasting impacts
(Thomson, 2017). However, lack of cultural understanding is
the significant cross-cultural challenge. Since Feeding America
is purely a volunteer organization with members from disparate
communities and cultural backgrounds the lack of cultural
understanding poses critical communication challenges when
dealing with communities from different cultural backgrounds
such as Hispanics or African American. Additionally, the
challenge is evident in the food production and distribution
approaches used for donations. There is the potency for having
miscommunication concerning food when engaging African
Americas and Hispanic groups based on their innate beliefs and
cultures about food.

4. Humanitarian considerations aim at increasing the participation
and consultation of people to improve the quality of
humanitarian assistance and increase accountability. Also, the
activities of all the stakeholders and community organization in
addressing the issue of hunger recognize the right of the
affected populace to self-determination. Eradication of hunger
is the core humanitarian consideration since it leads to
malnutrition, poor health, and suffering (Lundeen et al., 2017).
The humanitarian food assistance of Feeding America seeks to
provide nutritious food and other significant resources.
Additionally, they engage in other complementary programs that
aims at addressing the underlying causes of hunger and building
self-reliance as well as the resilience of the affected
communities.
Feeding America is a volunteer network with the innate mission
of feeding the hungry in America through their nationwide
network of volunteers and members foodbanks as well as
engaging the community in the eradicating hunger. The
organization provides numerous for volunteering opportunities
to individuals. Notably, the volunteer programs provided by the
entity are essential for university students as it provides them
with extensive knowledge of some of the underlying issues
affecting the society such as hunger and poverty (Goodall,
2016). Besides, it creates platforms for sharing ideas and
working with the vulnerable communities in designing
specialized an innovative program tailored to meet the social
need of such communities.
The vision of Feeding America subsumes a different objective
aimed towards helping the vulnerable Americans through
community-based organizations. Also, the organization aims at
providing a framework that engages the communities to mitigate
and obliterate hunger in America. Passion is a significant aspect
of the vision of the organization. Feeding America capitalizes
on the disposition of commitment, passion, and enthusiasm to
help vulnerable individuals and encourage them to actualize
their inherent potential. Second, the organization seeks to

5. provide the communities with hope by cultivating positive
attitudes and perspectives (Feeding America, 2014). Lastly, the
organization engrosses the aspect of stewardship to further the
realization of their mission. Stewardship enables donors and
other stakeholders to have a sense of belonging as the
organization involves them in decision making by enhancing
transparency and accountability.
Financing and lack of adequate personnel pose significant
challenges to the mission and vision of Feeding America.
Feeding America has inadequate funds to solve the pertinent
issue of hunger in America comprehensively. The dilapidating
economic conditions characterized by higher rates of
unemployment, homelessness and rising food prices are
exacerbating the condition. The aforestated factors exert
immense stress on the available resources making it strenuous
to address the issue of hunger ecumenically. A burgeoning body
of evidence is highlighting the systematic increase in the
number of families that are facing hunger (Thomson, 2017). The
above precedent outlines that there is the ever-growing demand
for food supplies which staining the existing financial budget
and resources of Feeding America. Consequently, there is a lack
of adequate personnel to handle the increasing demand for food
emergency services.
Following an exegetic and detailed assessment of the challenges
faced by the community organization in addressing the issue of
hunger, it is evident that the organization need to improve on
some aspects. The organization needs to come up with income
generating activities such as sewing projects which will enable
people in the community to have an income enables them to be
self-reliant (Goodall, 2016). Additionally, they should empower
stakeholders and other individuals at the local level to manage
their foodbanks. Individuals in the community should provide
storage for excess food resources that will help individuals
facing food insecurities.
Conclusively, Service learning is fundamental as it spearheads
for the creation of an indispensable and solid foundation that

6. incentivizes the community to develop self-reliant, sustainable
and hunger-free communities. Feeding America along with
community organizations spearheads for the adoption of self-
reliant and sustainable approaches that bring all the
stakeholders together with the aim of eradicating hunger.
However, lack of cultural understanding, inadequate finances
and lack of adequate personal pose significant challenges to the
attainment of the vision mentioned above. Some of the salient
improvements that offset the above challenges include the
provision of income generating activities and empowering the
community to take the initiative in addressing the issue of
hunger.
References
Feeding America. (2014). Hunger in America.
Goodall, K. (2016, January 29). Finding real community-
focused solutions to hunger and poverty. Retrieved from
http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-blog/finding-real-
hunger-soluntions.html
Lundeen, E., Siegel, K., Calhoun, H., Garcia, S., Hoeting, N., &
Harris, D. (2017). Peer Reviewed: Clinical-Community
Partnerships to Identify Patients With Food Insecurity and
Address Food Needs. Preventing chronic disease.
Thomson, G. (2017). Food Date Labels and Hunger in America.
Concordia L. Rev.
Running head: AN ANALYSIS OF FEEDING AMERICA 2
AN ANALYSIS OF FEEDING AMERICA 2

7. The Analysis of Feeding America
Analysis of Feeding America
Feeding America is a nonprofit organization based in the United
States. The organization operates food banks all over the U.S
that feed millions of people through shelters, food pantries, and
soup kitchens. Feeding America is one of the largest nonprofit
organizations in the U.S and has the unique mission of
alleviating hunger especially amongst the impoverished citizens
(Handforth, Hennink, & Schwartz, 2013). Students can enable
the organization to achieve its mission through donations and
engage in research to examine the issue of hunger in America.
To that extent, the following paper will discuss the
organization's vision, challenges and suggest the improvements
that it can make to realize its mission successfully.
The Vision
Feeding America has a multifaceted vision aimed towards
feeding hungry Americans through a web of community-based
organizations. Also, the organization's vision is aimed at
engaging communities in the endeavor to end hunger across the
U.S. The first tenet of the organization’s vision is passion.
Feeding America is driven by the compassion and enthusiasm to
help the people in need to enable them to realize their full
potential. The second tenet of the organization's vision is to
inspire hope in the communities that it serves by using a
positive attitude. Indeed, the organization aims to have a
meaningful impact in the community every day. The third tenet
is stewardship. Feeding America aims to be a pillar of the
community in order to gain the trust of donors to serve people
better. For the firm to achieve the latter, the organization
aspires to involve donors in financial decision making to create

8. an environment of accountability. By following these tenets,
Feeding America will achieve sustainability and enable it to
create a better future for impoverished Americans.
Challenges
The most significant challenge that Feeding America faces is
related to financing. Currently, the organization lacks enough
funds to solve the perpetual issue of hunger in the U.S. As a
nationwide organization, and Feeding America needs a
significant amount of resources like personnel and vehicles to
enable it to achieve its mission effectively. However, the
organization lacks enough sponsors meaning that it has to
compromise part of its mission. The situation is made worse by
the current macroeconomic climate in the U.S. Due to
unfavorable economic conditions (rising food prices,
unemployment, and the housing crisis), the demand for
emergency feeding services is at an all-time high; this places a
strain on the already overstretched budget of Feeding America.
The second challenge of the organization is interrelated to the
first as the organization lacks enough personnel. Feeding
America is chronically understaffed, and there are not many
people who are willing to offer voluntary services. The
combination of these problems poses a significant challenge to
Feeding America's mission.
Improvements
After analyzing the challenges that Feeding America faces, it is
clear that the organization needs to enhance its sources of
revenue. In order to achieve this, the organization can engage in
profitable ventures (Cook & Jeng, 2009). On that account,
Feeding America can open restaurant-chain as this enterprise is
directly related to its mission. The profits from the restaurant
can be used to finance its operations.
Conclusion
Feeding America is one of the largest nonprofit organizations in
the U.S and operates with the primary mission of alleviating
hunger in the country. The most significant challenge that the

9. organization faces is lack of sufficient funds. To solve this
challenge, Feeding America can engage in an enterprise like a
restaurant-chain. Overall, students all over the country can
volunteer their services to the organization to enable it to
achieve its vision.
References
Cook, J.T., & Jeng, K. (2009). Child food security: The
economic impact on our nation. Report research on the impact
of food insecurity and hunger on child, health, growth, and
development. Feeding America.
Handforth, B., Hennink, M., & Schwartz, M. B. (2013). "A
qualitative study of nutrition-based initiatives at selected food
banks in the Feeding America network" Journal of the Academy
of Nutrition and Dietetics, 113(3), 411-415.