6 thoughts on “Policy Option Brief – THE PREVALENT THREAT OF FOOD INSECURITY”

1. Hey guys, your policy memo brings to light a very serious issue that affects low income families. I really like the way you approached the issues in this memo, not only did you elaborate on the problem at hand but you also addressed the causes, the effects and gave possible solutions. The options you provided tackled the problems from all levels. It addressed income, government policy, farmer, supermarkets and the consumer.
   Your comprehensive approach provides for an effective and practical solution at all stages of the food supply chain. I really like the policy that will require the farmers who receive subsidies to produce more fruits and vegetables. I think you may also look at the possibility of the government imposing a ban on the destruction of excess food on farms by famers who receive government subsidies. They should be mandated to donate these excess food to food banks. Also the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act is a great idea and I hope supermarkets managers nationwide are all educated on the provisions of this act.
   If all the options you proposed are effectively implemented there will be a significant reduction of food waste and at the same time increase the food supply available which will also lead to reduced prices. This will in turn make more nutritious food available for low income families.

2. The policy brief captures the seriousness of the problem. I agree with the options suggested to increase the earned income credit deduction for low-income families which decreases their tax liability. The maximum if filed jointly is $49, 078. I ascertain from the authors suggestion is that by increasing this maximum reasonably to approximately mid-fifties would allow more families to benefit, considering inflation. Similarly raising the income requirement for SNAP would also allow more families who are above the current income requirement, but because of inflation have to make difficult choices between food, rent, etc, to be able to benefit from this program. Also, the discussion of the Massachusetts Rebate Program that allows a rebate of $.30 cents when fruits and vegetables are purchased is an excellent option to encourage purchasing healthier food choices. It would be useful to explore and make suggestions on how the SNAP program can identify low-income families and work in conjunction with food pantries and supermarkets to provide immediate, direct access to free foods that have the “sell by date” or “use by date” as mentioned by the authors.

3. This policy memo has a great organization throughout the paper. It focuses on seriousness of food insecurity in the United States.. Although we live in the 21st century, income gap and huge amount of waste can increase the food insecurity. This policy memo clearly uses significant amount statistical data to make this issue very serious.

   I really liked all solutions stated in this paper. However, I have a counter argument on the minimum wage policy issue. If we raise the minimum wage, we increase unemployment treat significantly. Many employees might not able to pay their employers. Therefore at least low minimum wages many people can afford food rather than nothing.

   Moreover, I really like the policy of food waste reduction. We always throw the food when we do not want yet. Although sometimes they are fresh, we still throw them out, where as many people like homeless have no food at all. In this situation, I like your proposal of giving unused food to homeless shelters rather than throwing them out based on the dates. In this situation, I think tax incentive can play an important role. If the store wasted food to any homeless shelters they can get certain percentage of tax incentives. This way, the store might give the wasted food to poor and benefit them and the whole society together.

4. Hey Guys,

   This is a well written and informative memo that does an excellent job of highlighting what appears to be a major problem. This said, I think there are a couple of things that need to be done if you want to bolster your case:

   The problem: Is the issue here hunger, poor nutrition or both? The start of the problem portion of the memo makes a case that the issue is hunger among the neediest of the population but this later turns into a discussion of processed food and waste. These are definitely related issues that deserve some attention but it tends to water down the severity of the one issue and makes finding a viable solution difficult. Also, as a recommendation, you might want to include some additional detail about why allowing children to go hungry is a problem. My knowledge on this issue is limited but there is a lot of good evidence out there that demonstrates the irreparable harm that poor nutrition does to child immune system development as well as the fact that cognitive development needs to happen at a certain age or it doesn’t happen at all.

   The solutions:
   – Raise minimum wage: It is unclear from this paper whether raising the minimum wage will help solve the problem of inadequate nutrition. You make it clear that raising the minimum wage will give people additional purchasing power but you also state that people at the lower end of the income scale tend to buy food that is cheap and unhealthy. Might raising the minimum wage simply increase the sales of unhealthy processed foods? This is a possibility you might want to explore.
   – Reform SNAP: I would say that this is likely the best option for seeing results as this is a program that, despite its deficiencies, has shown results. The one thing you might want to consider is what the effects of expanding the caps to this program are as it may only encourage the increase purchase of unhealthy foods. Perhaps offering incentives to buy healthy should be included?
   – Good Samaritan/Food waste laws: What exactly is the proposal here? Should the leaders of the legislative branch that this letter is addressing create new legislation mandating that the government give money to subsidize such organizations? This is a very informative section but it needs to be more specific on recommending an action that can be taken.

5. Hi Guys,
   Job well done with this policy memo. You guys addressed a very serious problem faced by many low income families. This memo was very information and I like how you guys addressed different aspects of the issue. The information that stood out the most to me is the fact that the actual living wage for New York is $14.30, yet our minimum wage is only $8.75. That’s a major setback for many families; hence I highly agree that the minimum wage should be increased as a way to combat the issue of food insecurity. Similarly grocery stores should be more active in the Good Samaritan laws and donate food to shelters. It truly is a disgrace at the amount of food people waste on a daily basis when there are so many people who are hungry.

6. The stats really help capture the importance of this issue and make you think one in 5 people I know suffer from food insecurity. I think having a few sentences explaining what food insecurity is would be helpful for those who are unfamiliar. I think this policy paper is well written and put together I enjoyed learning about this topic. The case for the seriousness of the problem is more than sufficient. If our youth is starving and unable to perform to the best of its abilities that is America as whole problem especially since the younger generations grow up to be the policy makers of the future. Raising the minimum wage in my opinion is the best option I also thought the farming subsidies was a great option I never thought of that before.

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