Poverty Simulation

After attending the poverty simulation I really got a better understanding of the hardships people have to go through to try to make ends meet. I played the role of a 42 year old dad with 3 young kids, one of which was pregnant. I was unemployed and it was hard for me to go out and do things like buy groceries or go pay the bills while still trying to watch the kids. I had one of my children taken into custody at one point because I left it at home. It was amazing to see how quickly people turned to stealing things just to try to get ahead, whether it was money, transportation or food etc. Coming from a city, this kind of poverty isn't something I am used to and I really feel for the people that have to go through this because it is definetely stressful and can have a huge impact on the family and their health and well being.

4/21

Today in class we visited the Ohio University extension over at the county health department. Nyla who is in charge of the family nutrition program, works with seniors, and WIC moms and children. It is a program that provides extra information on food safety and dietary quality. The target audience is food stamp recipients and everyone gets incentives assuming they attend.

The extension program itself was talked about by Rory. The framework for it was set in 1862 by the Morrill Act which helped establish land grant colleges. The Smith Lever Act of 1914 really helped pull everything together in order to establish the extension program they have now. The extension program is an outreach arm of the Ohio State University. There are offices in each of the 88 counties in the state. They focus on critical economic, environmental and family issues. It is federal state and county funded. It is easily accessible by websites, phone, media and publications.

4/19

Today in class Nick Clausen from jobs and family services came in to talk about the SNAP program. The SNAP program deals with food stamps, child support, job training, transportation etc. The biggest programs for the jobs and family services are medicaid and cash programs. To be eligible for SNAP you have to fall under 130% of the poverty line. To get food stamps you have to have a pay stub, social security card, and proof of identity. To monitor how the program is working, they check for fraud and talk to people. They also have nutrition programs which are not mandatory. I learned SNAP was an entitlement program where if you were eligible and applied you automatically get the program. The purpose/Mission is to help people that are most vulnerable, and to help them meet their basic needs. It is funded state and federally. Overall it seems like an interesting program.

4/15

Today I went to Good Earth Farm to help out. I started off by weeding the onion patches as well as near the spinach patch. After that was done I went over to the blueberry area and removed the Johnson grass/roots. Finally the day ended with helping move branches and logs after Paul had cut them down, which will be later used for firewood. The weather was great, and it felt good to help out.

4/14

Today we spent the day over at the community garden, and familiarizing ourselves with the plot in which we will be using to garden for our project. It was a pretty nice area and one that I have never been to or knew existed before this class. I learned that everything is grown organically there, and it was nice to see little children helping with digging and planting. It seems to be a great place to get the community working together, so I am excited to contribute to helping myself.

4/12

Today was home farming day which we briefly celebrated during class. Aside from that we finished up our talk about food security and what it means to us. We then got into talking about nutrition policies that exist. It was pretty interesting to learn about the different laws etc that have been created to help further nutrition information for people such as the labeling of food items etc. We also picked our "populations" for what we are going to grow in our garden. Our group is adolescent female vegetarians which is pretty cool, because now we can address issues like iron deficiency etc in our garden.

4/7/11

In class we talked further about food security and the effects it has on the community. We briefly discussed what we enjoyed from listening to the eco cafe lecture and how the programs are helping the community. We watched a video clip about how much of a struggle it is for families to get food to feed their kids. Alot of people just don't have the means or money even if they do hold a minimum wage job. It was definetely sad to see how some people just won't have a kid in order to save some money, or how they will try to dilute their milk just so they can prolong its usage. It is a shame to see people struggle, and they do the best they can to cope with it, but it is definetely a problem that needs to be addressed more and more.

Eco Cafe

The Eco Cafe was really interesting to attend. I have never been to an open panel discussion before let alone one about food security. It was amazing to see the different types of programs that are available now and being create to help solve a major problem in our area. These programs are a great start to try to help a community in need. It seems like they try really hard to get people involved, and to accomodate those who may not necessarily be able to afford good produce.

4/5/11

Today in class we began discussion on food security and how it greatly affects the population. We watched a brief clip on Erin Brockovich and discussed the different ways that movie showed signs of accessability and availability to food, whether it was good or bad. It is interesting to see how much of an affect a lack of money and food can impact a family. Poor living conditions can lead to greater risk for illness along with a lack of nutrients. People can begin lieing to save face amongst their peers, and often times you have the mothers or other family members giving up their food so their children can eat. It is definetely a depressing problem, and hopefully one that will eventually get better rather than worse.