The Black Warrior River may flow right between Tuscaloosa and Northport and the Quad may flood regularly when it rains, but as far as the USDA is concerned, the UA campus is in the middle of a desert.
According to the USDA, the University of Alabama, along with several other regions in Tuscaloosa, is located in a food desert, or a low-income area that provides little access to healthy food options, such as grocery stores and supermarkets.
The state as a whole doesn’t fare much better when it comes to food for its poorest residents. The Food Research and Action Center recently released a report that found 23.4 percent of Alabamians were unable to afford enough food for their families in 2011.
“We are never going to food bank our way out of hunger,” said Kristina Scott, the executive director of the Alabama Poverty Project. “We see the abilities that universities, churches and other organizations of education and faith have to create a constituency for change. We need to address the cultural problems of hunger instead of just the symptoms.”
The FRAC’s February Food Hardship in America report analyzed data collected through the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index project. The initiative has interviewed 1,000 households daily since January 2008, documenting responses to questions involving the inability to purchase food.
The data concluded that Alabama ranked as the second hungriest state in the country and that Birmingham is the 12th hungriest metropolitan area in the country.
“At the most basic level, hunger results from a lack of economic resources,” Scott said. “The median household income in Alabama is $42,081, versus $51,914 nationally. That is not enough for most families to have a level of economic security, and it results in poor nutrition.”
Scott said the Alabama Poverty Project strives to equip higher education institutions and faith communities with data, professional education and other resources to address and improve the structural problems with poverty and hunger.
In Tuscaloosa, Homegrown Alabama, a UA student-led initiative, provides education of and access to healthy food options for the region. Beginning on April 12, the group will host its annual farmer’s market at Canterbury Episcopal Church, which is held every Thursday to foster a connection between local farmers and the community.
“Our current method of food cultivation is highly unsustainable,” said Lindsay Turner, president and market manager of Homegrown Alabama. “It relies on the heavy use of fossil fuels and a dependence on transportation. It will ultimately fail.”
The Homegrown Alabama farmer’s market has established several action-based programs to help solve food security and access issues. The market accepts SNAP/EBT cards that have previously brought an additional $5000 in profit, redeems vouchers from the Canterbury food pantry and donates the vendors’ excess produce to the food pantry.
“Having the market located near campus is providing access to fresh, locally-grown produce that wouldn’t normally be available,” Turner said. “Purchasing locally directly helps the local economy. Therefore, you are helping your neighbors, the community, the farmers and yourself.”
Additionally, the local nonprofit Druid City Garden Project strives to increase community and school gardens and to educate Tuscaloosa residents about sustainable, healthy food sources.
“Small community gardens like ours are not an immediate answer to the problems of hunger in the state,” said Andrew Grace, UA professor involved in the project. “However, I do believe that community gardens and school gardens can be an important teaching tool for future generations by helping educate young folks about the true value of fresh food.”
To decrease Alabama’s hunger rates, Grace wishes to see increased student involvement to solve the problems.
“I would hope that students would be interested in working to make a more just and equitable world,” Grace said. “I think an integral part of a university experience is to try and understand the world from someone else’s point of view. It’s important for us to realize that we’re all in this together.”
