OPINION — When most people think about hunger, they picture an empty pantry or fridge. Yet, for families struggling to make ends meet, the challenge is often more complicated than simply having enough food to eat.
A family might have a pantry stocked with canned goods and still struggle to provide the fresh produce, milk, protein and other nutritious foods their children need to grow and thrive.
As we recognize World Food Day on Oct. 16, it’s an important reminder that addressing food insecurity means more than making sure our neighbors have enough to eat. It means ensuring they have access to the nutrition they need to live healthy, productive lives.
Across Arizona, roughly one in seven residents experience food insecurity, including one in five children. These aren’t just statistics. They represent working parents stretching grocery budgets, seniors navigating fixed incomes and families forced to make difficult choices between food, housing, utilities, medical care and other necessities.
At United Food Bank, we see the consequences of these difficult choices every day. Families often do everything they can to make their resources stretch, purchasing foods that are affordable, filling and easy to store. Unfortunately, those options don’t always provide the balanced nutrition people need.
For many households, the question isn’t whether they understand the importance of healthy eating, it’s whether they can afford it. While food banks work hard to provide a variety of nutritious foods, some of the most important items are also among the most difficult to distribute.
Milk is one example.
This important household staple provides essential nutrients including protein, calcium and vitamin D. These nutrients help support healthy bones, muscle development and overall health, particularly during childhood when proper nutrition plays an important role in growth. Milk is one of the most requested and least donated items at food banks.
Unlike canned vegetables, rice or pasta, fresh milk requires constant refrigeration, careful transportation and timely distribution. Food banks must have the equipment, storage capacity and resources to keep it fresh and safe from the moment it arrives until it reaches a family's refrigerator.
These challenges create a troubling contradiction: some of the foods that can make the greatest nutritional difference are often the hardest for families experiencing food insecurity to access.
Consider a parent preparing breakfast before sending their children to school. A simple bowl of cereal becomes a more nutritious meal with milk. A family making dinner can use milk in everything from soups to mashed potatoes, adding important nutrients to affordable, familiar recipes.
For a household with limited resources, having milk available can make a meaningful difference in what ends up on the table. Many products such as cheese, yogurt and other forms of dairy can make a meaningful difference.
Food banks have the infrastructure and partnerships to distribute these essential products, but meeting demand is a challenge we cannot solve alone. Businesses, community organizations and individual donors all have an important role to play in helping close the gap.
Financial contributions are particularly valuable because they allow food banks to purchase milk and other dairy products directly, providing a reliable supply of nutritious foods that rarely arrive through traditional food drives. Even modest contributions can make a meaningful difference when combined with the generosity of an entire community.
World Food Day is an opportunity to recognize both the importance of proper nutrition and our collective responsibility to make it accessible. Every child deserves the opportunity to grow up healthy, every senior deserves nourishing meals and every family deserves access to foods that support their well-being.
In Arizona, that commitment is taking shape through the Moo & Boo Dairy Drive, a partnership between Arizona Milk Producers and the Fiesta Sports Foundation to benefit United Food Bank. Through Oct. 31, these remarkable partners are working to help provide milk and other nutritious dairy products to families facing food insecurity. Community members can support this effort by making a contribution at give.unitedfoodbank.org/dairy.
Fighting hunger isn’t just about making sure our neighbors have enough to eat. It’s about making sure they have what they need to be healthy and thrive.
Jason Reed is president and CEO of United Food Bank, a Mesa-based nonprofit that works with more than125 community partners to provide food assistance to families throughout Arizona, including Maricopa and Pinal counties. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
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