During my family group’s change lab research, I came across a lot of information about the production and distribution of food throughout the US. Personally I really struggle with the idea of people being unable to receive the food they need. In my opinion it’s a combination of things: the government subsidizing the wrong crops, improperly laid out towns, and the power wealth has over our society. In class we’ve talked about plenty of different service opportunities available to us and others which we have been a part of. I was part of a Feeding America trip and this trip gave my belief that large business is incorrectly handing our food distribution even more backing. To see all of that food that could have potentially been discarded, many simply because of dents in the cans, demonstrates how visual our world has become. Many no longer wonder about if what’s in the package is healthy for them but rather judge things on their visual appeal.

      On the contrary, I believe that the younger American generation is working to combat this. In Design Appreciation, we’ve been working with the ideas of transportation and living conditions. There are a large number of places in this state alone, even Blacksburg that have very strict laws against providing for yourself. I cannot move into an apartment complex here and have a window box to grow vegetable plants in, nor do I have access to any sort of outdoor space for such an experiment in self-sufficiency. Also, in the town of Blacksburg I cannot have chickens if I live in a house. This is the same in my town at home. These town ordinances prevent many of us, who are capable of reducing our need for commercially sold food, from reducing our dependency on food supply from large companies. Our change lab project talked about a 14% food insecurity rate in Montgomery county. This rate faces the potential to be greatly reduced in residence had more opportunities to provide for themselves. Even simple things like growing potatoes. One barrel on a terrace or a couple in a backyard would allow a family to not have to purchase potatoes for at least a couple months if grown properly. This wouldn’t be the greatest monetary advantage, but anything makes a difference, no matter how small. If they could avoid paying for $20-$40 worth of potatoes, maybe they could put that money towards purchasing other food or paying for some of their bills. Any dent in the outflow of money that would allow the family to better support themselves is a positive in my opinion.

      These vastly spread out, highly regulated communities that we’re all currently inhabiting are part of the food distribution and therefore the food insecurity problem. Design Appreciation has showed me how far urban developments often are from the food which their residents are purchasing. We should try to move society towards a more seasonal, locally grown diet. This would allow us to greatly reduce production and transportation costs, forcing food prices to drop. A drop in food prices would hopefully also reduce the disparity between subsidized foods, i.e. corn and all processed foods involving corn syrup, and the prices of fresh, in-season, locally grown foods. This would help support a local economy while reducing food prices and making it easier for households to support themselves.

      All of this brings me back to active citizenship. To be an active citizen is to be well informed about the community and the work which you are doing while volunteering in hopes of making an impact for the better. Through design appreciation, Feeding America, and the change lab project I’ve learned a lot about hunger and food insecurity in the New River Valley and Montgomery County. I hope to continue my active citizenship by volunteering with Feeding America and beginning to work with Campus Kitchen next semester. I understand that no one person can save the world but I hope that by being informed about the issue and the programs I involve myself in, I can make the largest impact possible to benefit the lives of others.

      For our change lab we focused primarily on Montgomery county and the community here in Blacksburg. We chose to involve all parties at our table. Food insecurity affects everyone, even indirectly. If you’re not the one struggling to make ends meet, you might be the one paying higher county, state, or national taxes for programs to help those who are experiencing difficulties. At some point you are part of the cycle: production, distribution, or consumption. Our group chose this topic because we all wanted to be part of the solution.

      On campus we have Campus Kitchen, advertisements to volunteer with Feeding America, and every other volunteer opportunity you could think of. All of these opportunities help us to accomplish our goal of reducing the food insecurity rate. We ended up with a PSA style project. We believed that by showing our class all of the people facing insecurity and by showing them the local opportunities we have for counter acting it, we might be able to spur them into action. The involvement of one or two more individuals in these programs could really make a difference.

Our project can be broken down by the what, so what, and now what model. Our issue was food insecurity throughout our nation and specifically, on a local level. The “so what” or importance of such a project is being able to affect hundreds, if not thousands, of lives thorough community outreach and activism. The next portion of the project is involvement. I have met with Joanne from Campus Kitchen and plan on making it a weekly service of mine next semester. I would love to work with the program and see it eventually expand to include the food from Personal Touch Catering.

      My change lab project has allowed me to concrete my want to focus my service here at Virginia Tech on the food insecurity rate of our local community. I hope that I can make an impact in the lives of those around me and do so as an active, well informed citizen.