When you walk into the counselor’s office at Central, the first thing you encounter is a wicker basket piled high with packs of ramen. While this sight can confuse some people, it can serve as a lifeline for others.
Arkansas ranks first in the nation in food insecurity.
The Department of Agriculture defines food security as, at all times, access to enough food to live a happy, healthy life. A fifth of Arkansans and a fourth of Arkansas children do not meet this criteria (Feeding America). These statistics seem to contrast with the idea of the first world United States, but issues of income inequality, unemployment, racial or ethnic divisions, and disability can all factor into the likelihood of a household being food insecure.
Two common misconceptions that fester around food insecurity are the idea of a rural/urban divide and a lack of understanding in what food insecurity can entail. In actuality, a study conducted by Dr. Jayna Dave et al. shows that while there is no significant difference in food insecurity rates along rural and urban areas, within urban areas rates of childhood obesity are more directly tied to rates of household food insecurity. This has to do with the perceived idea of food insecurity- which is a lack of adequate caloric intake- when it more often appears as a financial barrier to access nutrient dense healthy foods. As a result, children that are underweight and a healthy weight are overwhelmingly likely to live in households that are food secure.
Rates of food insecurity across the country have recently increased- Arkansas is now first in the nation with almost 19% of households meeting or surpassing the criteria for food insecurity. Measures have, of course, been taken to combat issues of food security, especially in childhood, like the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act promoted by Michelle Obama. This act, according to research from the University of Washington, was successful in increasing the nutritional value children actually consumed from their school lunches, but schools cannot be the silver bullet for this issue. Instead, responsibility must fall upon the government to address this issue, which stems from a myriad of factors like unemployment, inflation, and food regulation.
Recently, the Sanders administration has attempted to address this with the Arkansas Minority Health Commission’s (AMHC) Food Desert Elimination grant program- including a grant to investigate socioeconomic factors that can lead to food insecurity in Pine Bluff. Along with these grants, a law was passed in 2023 to increase the limit for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a program which provides monthly supplementary for families, from $2,250 to $5,500. The initial raise was to $12,500, but was amended in order to increase the chance of passage.
There are non-governmental organizations (NGOs), like the Arkansas Food Bank and local soup kitchens that can assist people facing food insecurity, but once again, the responsibility ultimately falls on the state and federal governments to decrease barriers for people in poverty to have access to healthy food. Donation or time spent volunteering at these NGOs can provide a direct benefit to food insecure people in your community, including places like the Little Rock Stewpot, the Little Rock Compassion Center, and the Arkansas Food Bank.
For those that have never experienced food insecurity, it is difficult to comprehend both the individual impact it can have and its prevalence, but in Arkansas, the ramen in the counselor’s office disappears quickly, tucked in the bags of peers and passers-by in the hall.
