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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Dianne Holcomb, BA and Charlie Frair. Partners in Ending Hunger, 309 Cumberland Avenue - Suite 206, Portland, ME 04101, 207-553-2056, charlie@endhungernow.org

Poverty, food insecurity and hunger have increased continuously in the U.S. since 2001. Partners in Ending Hunger presents three pilot projects, describing a process for engaging communities to take on ending hunger in their community. Included are a rural community (Old Town/ Orono, ME), a coastal community (Knox County, ME), and an urban community (Portland, ME). Embedded in the process is the belief that communities are the best sources of solutions for their own issues. Providing leadership, coordination, and technical support, Partners in Ending Hunger guides communities through steps to: 1) Examine and assess the percentage of food insecurity and hunger in the community; 2) Research the root causes and perception of hunger in the community; 3) Design strategies and actions to garner public support; 4) Implement local actions for ending hunger. Through a grass roots approach, utilizing multi-sector community volunteers, individuals are trained to conduct a random phone survey utilizing the U.S. Food Security Scale. The process builds partnerships through collaboration, with each collaborator bringing his/her unique perspective and assets to the process. The Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy at the University of Maine works with Partners in Ending Hunger to compile and analyze the Maine data and present results. Each community follows the same process; each community compiles identical data; each follows the same steps, and arrives at unique conclusions through the process of root cause analysis. Initial findings strongly suggest that the process is valid, reliable, replicable, and applicable in both rural and urban settings.

Learning Objectives:

• Define a vision for a hunger-free nation.
• List the phases of the Partners' Pathway for Ending Hunger.
• Articulate "community-defined boundaries".
• Identify the steps to examine and assess hunger in a community.
• Describe community use of the USDA Household Food Security Measure.

Keywords: Hunger, Community Building

Related Web page: www.endhungernow.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: N/A

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