Advancing Childhood Food Security through Organizing Strategies

Abstract

In the United States, food insecurity affected 14.7 percent of US households in 2009, including 17 million children.1 In keeping with national trends, hunger and poverty have increased in Texas. More than 1.8 million Texas children are at risk of food insecurity.1 This is more than 1 in 4 Texas children—the fifth highest percentage in the country. However, unlike other challenges associated with poverty, childhood food insecurity can be solved, and the necessary resources already exist to do so. The Texas Hunger Initiative in the Baylor University School of Social Work is a capacity-building project that seeks to develop and implement strategies to end childhood food insecurity through public-private collaboration, policy, education, research, and community organizing. This paper presents community organizing strategies being used by the Texas Hunger Initiative to organize policy makers and local community leaders, all in the effort to alleviate childhood food insecurity