Deal Food Drive and Conversations About Food Insecurity

The holidays are near, and the Alice Deal Community Association invites families to donate to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Food Pantry on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. Sign up here to help with the event.

The Food Drive may bring up a lot of questions for our middle schoolers, especially when food insecurity affects 1 out of 3 DC residents. Below provides additional information that can start the conversation with your middle schooler concerning the food crisis in DC.

How to have the conversation with your middle schooler: the justice perspective

The 2022 Hunger Reports highlights the disparity between communities in relation to food security. 55% of all Hispanics in the DMV area experience food insecurity. In the Black community, the number of food insecure is 50%. For white adults, that number is 13%. This disparity illustrates how the history of systemic racism manifests itself in a multitude of ways, hunger one of them. The Hunger Report shares, “Longstanding and ongoing discriminatory practices in employment, education, housing, lending, municipal planning, and many other areas regularly affect communities of color in ways that contribute to the higher rate of food insecurity among these groups” (Capital Area Food Bank, 2022). For a lot of DC residents, the pandemic has made it even more difficult to attain job security, and this significantly impacts food security.

The Alice Deal Community understands our students will one day take on pivotal roles in society. We believe insight into issues impacting our fellow residents can help us better identify unjust systems and inspire a new generation in dismantling them. We hope, as our children grow to be future leaders, they can be empowered with information and help shape a more equitable future for all.

If your budding leader would like to learn more about the food hunger crisis in Washington, D.C., you can learn more at the Capital Area Food Bank.