by Katie Patrick
A bowl of Lucky Charms for breakfast. Diet Dr. Pepper in the afternoon. Fries as a side. And ice cream with Hershey’s chocolate syrup before bed. Sounds good, right? I think so! It’s my sweet tooth and salty tooth at their best, not to mention the afternoon caffeine boost. Truth be told, this was my diet until a few years ago when I decided to start eating healthier.
We hopefully make those kinds of decisions the older we get, don’t we? We start paying attention to the consequences of a bad diet because we finally start to feel their effects, like how too much sugar in the morning can leave you hungry a couple hours later; how too much caffeine can keep you from falling asleep at night; and how your blood sugar levels go up if you eat too many carbs.
Did you know that hunger refers not to just the lack of food, but to the lack of nutritious food? More precisely, we call it food insecurity. Food insecurity is defined as a lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in a household to live an active, healthy life.
In the short-term, food insecurity can contribute to stress, tiredness, and our capacity to work or focus in school. In the long-term, food insecurity can contribute to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, type-2 diabetes, depression, eating disorders, and more.
What’s especially troublesome is food insecurity for children under 3 years of age. Food-insecure children are 90 percent more likely to have fair or poor health rather than good or excellent health, 31 percent more likely to spend time in the hospital, and 76 percent more likely to have problems in cognitive, language, and behavioral development. So you see, not consuming enough of the right food has alarming consequences.
The good news is that you can do something about it.
On Sunday, Aug. 8, supporters, sponsors and volunteers braved the heat to take part in BetterLife’s “Walk to End Hunger.” Held at Pius X High School’s Aldrich Field, the walk was a benefit for the CSS food market in Lincoln. Sponsored by BetterLife Insurance and organized by one of its local representatives, Mike Hosek, the inaugural event raised a combined total of 10,000 in pounds of food and/or dollars.
Prior to the event, I was able to meet with its organizers and supporters to share with them the nutritional needs of our food market. Today, we’re stocked with baking supplies, canned vegetables with low sodium, canned fruit in light syrup, healthy snacks and cereals, and garden fresh vegetables.
Other ways to help include praying for our clients, volunteering with us, and perhaps the next time you go to the store, buy some fresh veggies or a few dairy products and drop them off at our food market. We are always in need of a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits and dairy products. When there’s fresh food or healthy snacks, it goes fast, and I mean fast!
We are deeply grateful for all that comes through our doors and so are our clients. In great and small ways, we can all do something to eliminate food insecurity. May God bless you!
