Food Insecurity Will Be A Defining Issue Of Our Time

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Published on November 23, 2020, 7:12 pm
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“Food insecurity will be a defining issue of our time. We must do everything we can to eradicate food insecurity in the Bronx, NYC, nation and worldwide.”

Dr. Edward Summers

“The Bronx continues to lead in the number of food insecure individuals and families. Public
intervention must address this critical problem.”

The Think Tank at The Thinkubator under the leadership of Dr. Lessie Branch released a policy brief on food insecurity in the Bronx, which could be downloaded here. The report explores the connection between poverty and food insecurity and examines both in the context of the Bronx. The Bronx, a community prior to CoViD-19 was home to one-in-four residents living in food insecure households has since seen a tremendous increase in those food insecure. CoViD-19 has certainly exacerbated the number of food insecure households and policy intervention is needed immediately.

The Think Tank at The Thinkubator puts forth four policy prescriptions that must been examined as
local governments consider CoViD-19 food insecurity relief: 1) Direct resources to local Bronx
nonprofits; 2) Expand food selection methods for families with children; 3) Advance crucial benefits
for vulnerable New Yorkers; and 4) Advocate against the federal government’s attack on census. These recommendations are critical to alleviating the challenges associated with food insecurity. “Food insecurity will be a defining issue of our time. We must do everything we can to eradicate food insecurity in the Bronx, the nation, and worldwide” said Dr. Edward Summers, CEO and
President of The Thinkubator
. The Thinkubator has worked collaboratively with The Bronx
Community Foundation, The Bronx Community Relief Efforts, World Central Kitchen (WCK),
RAP4BRONX, BronxWorks, NY Common Pantry, The Prodigal Center, and other community-based organizations to provide meals and financial resources to support local pantries.

These activities have yielded the delivery of more than 2 million meals and 100s of grocery bags to
households in the Bronx. Dr. Lessie Branch, Director of The Think Tank states “CoViD-19 has
shown us that when society fails to protect its most vulnerable citizens in a social way the negative
outcome impacts us all. Food insecurity is no different.” Therefore, the community must do its best to intervene and support those within the community when the government fails to do so.

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About The Think Tank at The Thinkubator

The Think Tank at The Thinkubator, launched by Dr. Lessie Branch, Associate Professor of Business at Metropolitan College of New York (MCNY), serves as a hub for rigorous academic, scholarly, and professional research that supports the documentation and evaluation of The Thinkubator activities, seeks to understand the Bronx as a contested, complex urban form, and addresses narratives of marginalized – Black, Brown, Female, and low-income communities. The Think Tank conducts research and analysis, provides youth with a platform to conduct and produce research, and produces policy briefs and reports for public discourse.

To learn more, please visit here.

About The Thinkubator

The Thinkubator exists to train, educate, and connect Bronx youth to work-based learning experiences, employment, and educational opportunities. Youth are connected to businesses, non-profits, elected officials, and government to partake in our US democracy and impact change. We seek to prepare diverse, low-income youth from the Bronx to succeed in the workplace and the world.

The Thinkubator aspires to a world where young people from the Bronx are trained, educated, and powered to bring their voice to business, organizational, societal, and world challenges.

To learn more, please visit here.

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Jonas Bronck is the pseudonym under which we publish and manage the content and operations of The Bronx Daily.™ | Bronx.com - the largest daily news publication in the borough of "the" Bronx with over 1.5 million annual readers. Publishing under the alias Jonas Bronck is our humble way of paying tribute to the person, whose name lives on in the name of our beloved borough.