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Read the essay below and answer the questions that follow.An Innovative Approach to Eliminating Food Insecurity
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[1] Did you know that three in four college students will go hungry at some point of their college career? Even though there are campus food banks popping up around the country, the problem still exists. Campus gardens might be a way to enhance what food banks are already doing. Wasatch Gardens provides an innovative solution for fighting hunger on college campuses through creating community gardens that can assist the efforts of food banks.
[2] Wasatch Gardens was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1989. Their mission is "To empower people of all ages and incomes to grow and eat healthy, organic, local food" (WasatchCommunity Gardens | Salt Lake City. Utah Community Gardens). In order to accomplish their mission, Wasatch Gardens helps people start and maintain community gardens. Whether these gardens are for a neighborhood, a local homeless shelter, or even a school, they are teaching others that "the quality of a community is directly related to the quality of its food" (WasatchCommunity Gardens Salt Lake City, Utah Community Gardens). With their five programs. Community Garden, Youth Garden, School Garden. Community Education, and Green Team Farm, they "offer garden space, educational programs, and community events to empower people to grow, harvest, preserve, and prepare fresh, healthy food" (Wasatch Community Gardens Salt Lake City. Utah Community Gardens). This organization does its best to help people create a sustainable way to grow food that empowers members of the community.
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[3] (1) Food insecurity is a growing problem in the US, and the issue is even more challenging for students who have additional costs related to funding their education. (2) In the state of Arizona, food insecurity affects as much as 20% of the population: "One in five Arizonans lacked the money to buy food at least once in 2012, according to Feeding America, a non-profit organization consisting of more than 200 food banks and food-rescue organizations across the U.S" (Szabo). (3) These numbers are even higher for students, who are often working part-time to enable them to handle the rigors of academic life. (4) In Yavapai County alone, the number of people struggling with food insecurity, which means they are not able to purchase adequate food for themselves or their families, is estimated to be around 17%. (5) Add to that the increased cost of education, tuition, books, and fees, and the need to spend more time working on classwork, and students are even more likely to fall into this category. (6) Food insecurity among students leads to a decreased ability to learn effectively, but, even more
significant, it decreases a student's ability to successfully complete his/her education.
[4] Especially in the community college setting, many students have families to care for and are trying to balance school, work, and family on a very limited budget. When the choice is between food and books, students often must choose food, which leaves them without the necessary tools they need to succeed in their courses. Surviving on affordable options like Ramen and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese can leave students without energy to give all their attention to their studies.
[5] Wasatch Gardens provides an innovative solution to the problem of food insecurity by helping communities start community gardens. In one instance, they started a community garden down the street from a homeless shelter. Women from the shelter can work at the garden for a salary, and food from the garden is sold at a discount to a local Head Start program: "Eachwoman also gets a 6-foot stretch to plant whatever she likes. Lynette, whose Pomeranian-Chihuahua service dog. Ed, watches her patiently, chose melons, green beans, beets and snap peas so sweet they'd pass for candy in a blindfold test" (Piper). Not only does planting a garden empower these women to make positive choices, but it provides a living. "Team members
earn $9 an hour for a minimum of 20 hours per week and attend Friday classes on job skills. The land is leased by Salt Lake City's Redevelopment Agency at a cost of $1 per year, and the
produce is sold at a cut rate to the Head Start program for disadvantaged children" (Piper). What is really innovative about this program is that it is helping the women at the homeless
shelter, as well as giving back to the community in other ways. The Wasatch Gardens also serve "roughly 1800 to 2000 kids per year" in their youth education program, as well as "80
