Episode 15: Hunger Advocacy

# AnthroAlert

## Episode 16: Hunger Advocacy

Originally aired 15 September 2017 on bullsradio.org

In this episode, we discuss how an anthropological perspective helps address issues of hunger in our community.

Our guest, Laura Kihlstrom, presents on food insecurity in the Tampa Bay Area.

Laura is a dual degree student at USF: she is getting her doctorate in cultural anthropology and MPH in maternal and child health. She has an MSc in agroecology from the University of Helsinki, Finland. Laura spent six years working before returning to graduate school. During these six years she co-authored a book on global food security and worked in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Her interest in anthropology arose from the need to view global and local challenges from a more holistic and historical perspective. Once accepted to the program, she moved to Tampa with her husband, son, and two Ethiopian street cats. Laura has her roots in Finland, but she has spent large chunks of her life abroad: in Nepal, Sweden, Ethiopia, and now in the U.S. Becoming a student in anthropology and jumping into the discipline felt like finally coming home. Laura feels that it is a total privilege and a huge responsibility to be trained in a discipline in which students are constantly pressed to think beyond surface level explanations and to engage in critical thinking.

During the past year, Laura has worked on projects related to food insecurity in the Tampa Bay Area. Two thirds of people tackling with food insecurity in the U.S. regularly receive assistance from food banks. In Tampa Bay, approximately one in six adults and one in four children are food insecure. Food pantries have been criticized for exacerbating the poor health of their clients by offering unhealthy food options, such as sodas and cakes. As a result, many food pantries now have programs designed around better nutrition and increased provision of healthier food options. The Last Mile study, led by USF researchers in cooperation with Feeding Tampa Bay, set out to investigate how the efforts of food pantries to serve more healthy food has been perceived by the clients themselves. The methodology used consisted of focus group discussions and household interviews. Based on the study results, clients of food pantries face several challenges in actually utilizing these healthier foods, the most common obstacles being poor quality and unfamiliarity with the products. Because of this, a lot of the fresh produce ends up being wasted. The results challenge us to think about access to food in more broad terms. They also engage us in a critical discussion related to food as a human right: Whose responsibility is it that every citizen has access to healthy and nutritious food? Are volunteer-based operations the best way to ensure food security? Who decides what poor people eat? How can compassion and kindness alleviate the emotional burden of food insecurity?

## Podcast link

## Video link

https://youtu.be/Hh-g-IZ0uXY

## Album art photo credit:

Oliver Thompson

https://flic.kr/p/9zVPYB

CC License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Therapeutic Food Pantry Boston U Medical Center #iln13 by Ted Eytan

CC License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

## Intro music credit:

There's A Better WAY ! by Loveshadow

http://ccmixter.org/files/Loveshadow/34402

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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