I don't know how many people have realized just how big food insecurity is, and how big of a problem it is just in Hastings.

In the last couple weeks I have come to realize how big of a problem it is. I knew it was bad here in Hastings, knew there were children going hungry, but I really didn't know the enormity of the problem. Then I got the facts.

60% of kids in schools are on the free and reduced lunch program, and 12% of Hastings is food insecure while 64% of families in Hastings need government assistance. The south side of Hastings is actually considered a food desert due to their not being any real grocery store that provides fresh food. Since 2003, two grocery stores have closed on the south side of town.

Food insecurity is a wicked problem though. It's a problem that doesn't have just one solution, that has so many parts that we have to address all of them in a way that will actually effectively reduce food insecurity. One of the biggest reasons for food insecurity are the high taxes and high rent. Nebraska is actually ranked 7th in the nation for it's high tax and rent.

Some other chilling facts about food insecurity in the U.S. as a whole are as followed:

1 out of 5 children are food insecure, and eventually that number will become 1 out of 2 children if food insecurity keeps going.

Half the people in America will be poor or nearly poor - there are 42.2 million men, women, and children who struggle with hunger in America.

95% of food aid in the U.S. comes from the government whereas 5% come from non-government.

Now many people have come up with solutions to the problem, and some have been implemented even. Such as educating people about what kinds of food they should be getting. But that's a problem for some people, especially when they end up having to rely on SNAP or WIC, government food programs, to get food. There is actually a challenge for people to try to live off what these families on SNAP are living off of. In Nebraska, the average amount a family has to live off of is $6.44 per person, per day. So for one person for one week, they have a total of $45 for that one week.

Now, what can we do to help decrease food insecurity? I personally think we need to somehow get a new store on the south side or increase SNAP benefits to help families get nutritious foods instead of the cheaper and less healthy foods.

I think a great way for people to know exactly what we need to do, is for you to take the SNAP challenge. The link below will take you to a page with information about the SNAP challenge, and if you look it up on Google, you'll find many stories and even videos of people who have taken the challenge. I'm actually in the middle of taking the challenge myself, although I was one of the families on government assistance when I was younger and experienced it in a more real way. But if you do decide you want to try it, just for a week to see what it's like, the link is below and it's entirely up to you.

However, thinking about food insecurity, what do you want to do to make things better?

http://site.foodshare.org/site/PageServer?pagename...