food security is sexy

A few posts and websites have popped into my view over the past few days, and I thought some of them were good enough to share.


When you have food security, you feel safe, you're satisfied, you're confident.  That's sexy. Finding cheetos on sale at a large box store or getting a 2 for 1 at the drive thru is not a sign of food security (nor is it sexy).  It's a rather strange paradox to be living in a country that can have a headline about growing childhood and adult obesity in the same paper as an article about how taxed food banks have been during the recent economic challenges. But that's a whole other conversation - I could post links to the Hunger Report, so you could see just how big an issue food insecurity is (and if you don't know, go look it up), but for now, here are some groups that are talking about things that contribute to food security.  Lasting, sustainable, affordable and good-for-you food security.

Article titled "Taking Back Our Food - Dealing With Hunger and The Land"

 This group represents a 'comprehensive strategy to address many of the ills affecting our society and environment due to an unsustainable and unjust food system.

Those may see very broad and general if you're not personally familiar with the issue of food insecurity.  If you think it's something that only happens in under developed nations, think again.  Look up your area food bank and give them a call and ask about your region's stats.  I think you'll be surprised.

As you can look locally to see the extent of the hunger issue in your own back yard, so can you look and find people working on solutions.  I live in Asheville, and here's one link that will show you multiple solutions in action:

Their mission: "To create, on urban land, beautiful community spaces that produce food in abundance and foster a learning environment for social justice and sustainability."  Good golly, that's sexy.  Click the logo to see a list and description of their partner gardens.  

If you live elsewhere, I'm sure there's something like this going on in your area.  Maybe your neighborhood or region has some gardens listed here:

  American Community Garden Association - you can look at an interactive map to see registered gardens across the U.S.

So if you need to increase your own food security, consider a garden.  If you don't have space for one, see if you can find a community garden.  If it's not an issue for you, that's great.  Maybe you can give someone else a hand?