[From the ACE 199 "Farm, Food & Environmental Policy" experiential learning study tour, spring break 2015]

Today our class visited with institutions that demonstrated both the seriousness and complexity of food insecurity in the Bay Area. The Alameda County Community Food Bank is an example of a local outreach organization that utilizes community participation to fight food insecurity. We were given an extensive tour of the facility and were presented with statistics about the people the food bank serves.

Every four years the Alameda County Food Bank conducts a study that provides crucial data which allows for a better understanding of the role the food bank plays in the community. The number of people who use the food bank on a consistent basis is on the rise. Four years ago 1 in 6 Alameda County residents used the food bank, but this number has since risen to 1 in 5. In an area where a family of four needs nearly $86,000 per year to just get by, a large portion of users earn closer to $10,000 per year.

According to the food bank’s employees, this makes food banks and the support they receive from California’s agricultural sector critical for providing Bay Area residents with the food they need. Federal programs such as SNAP, the employees said, have been stellar examples of efficient and valuable government programs. Despite the seemingly large volume of SNAP participants in the country, California as a whole has one of the worst SNAP participation rates in the nation. Additionally, between federal assistance levels and household income levels of $86,000 per year, there is a significant pool of Alameda County residents who do not qualify for the SNAP program but still find it difficult to put food on the table.

We also met with Granular Inc., a company that has developed dynamic technologies to improve the farming process for row crop farmers. These user-friendly software systems continue a process of technological integration that targets farmers and improves their operations. The speakers at Granular helped us to understand the process through which start-up companies attempt to expand, while also noting the ways in which their ability to become an industry-defining business is limited by how recently the company has entered into the space they one day hope to occupy. One possibility for future innovation that Granular has discussed is adding technology to their platform that can assist in the elimination of post-harvest loss, which could alter the state of food security at some level.

In the afternoon, we visited with the Natural Resource Defense Council, an organization devoted to improving the quality of the environment and combating climate change. Jonathan Kaplan, Senior Policy Specialist for the organization shed light on the fact that estimates can be as high as 40% for crop loss, in processes including shipping from farm to table. Reducing this number would not only aid in alleviating food insecurity in the United States, but also protect the environment in substantial ways, Kaplan said.

Throughout the course of an extremely busy and exciting day, presenters exposed the multi-faceted nature of alleviating food insecurity in both California and the entirety of the United States of America. To solve the food insecurity issue, improving business capabilities for farmers, decreasing waste, and improving distribution efficiency are some of the most vital challenges these institutions must face.

As before, check out this link for more photos of our adventures!