Food deserts have been an issue for decades, experts say, but the term was coined just a few years ago.
Health specialists and community organizations are still learning about food insecurity, such as what qualifies as a food desert, socioeconomic factors, and the best solutions.
Several Toledo health organizations, as well as county and state officials, have said they are working to come up with long-term solutions.
“We’ve been dealing with these types of issues for eons, but the studies and data haven’t come online until the last couple of years,” said Eric Zgodzinski, health commissioner of Toledo-Lucas County Health Department.
Mr. Zgodzinski is currently researching food insecurity to better understand the history and factors and convey them to city and state officials to work toward solutions.
The food insecurity conversation stemmed from “food issues” such as healthy eating and having access to fresh food which eventually led to the term “food deserts” because of the decrease in access in some areas, Mr. Zgodzinski said.
United Way, on top of providing over 800 programs and resources via its 211 call service, which connects people to local resources, is dedicating time specifically to food insecurity. This is through research, advocacy, and funding organizations that provide free and affordable produce to food-insecure residents.
“We’ve really amplified our work in the food insecurity space pretty significantly since the start of the pandemic,” said Jill Bunge, vice president of impact and outreach for United Way of Greater Toledo. “We’ve directed a lot of funds to a lot of our primary service providers who are doing that emergency food assistance piece like with food pantries.”
Understanding the issue
Food insecurity is a complex issue because several different factors play off of each other such as income and transportation, Mr. Zgodzinski said.
“Let’s say you live in less of a poverty area where you have the ability to travel,” Mr. Zgodzinski said. “If you have to travel two miles to go to the grocery store and you have a car, it’s a heck of a lot easier than if you don’t have a car. You’d have to take a bus, walk, or bike. If you’re walking you might be able to carry two bags of groceries and that just compounds the issue because you could be going every day to the grocery store.”
Societal changes have made it harder to access food, he said.
In the 1910s through 1960s, for example, food insecurity was an issue, but it was more related to poverty, not access.
People usually didn’t have to walk more than one or two blocks to buy fresh food because there were corner stores they could walk to, he said.
“That community type of shopping and access has gone away,” Mr. Zgodzinski said.
“We’ve changed the neighborhoods so you don’t have that readily accessible food within your neighborhood which means you have to travel to the big box stores that act as a one-stop shop, and you can’t put one of those on every corner, he said.
Community efforts
United Way wants to focus attention on the issue of food insecurity and solutions that are specific to Toledo through research, funding programs, and policy advocacy.
Ms. Bunge has been enlisted to find the best solutions and policies that are specific to Toledo.
“Jill was brought into the organization because United Way really wanted to take a turn in its strategy to address this very specifically,” said Wendy Pestrue, chief executive officer of United Way of Greater Toledo. “A few years ago, we realized that the community suffers from a lack of coordination and outreach.”
They are currently using a report that was conducted in partnership with students at the University of Toledo. It examines the best practices and policies that makes sense for Toledo, Ms. Pestrue said.
United Way is also working to resurrect a food policy council for Toledo, which involves zoning and other policies.
Ms. Pestrue said United Way will continue to provide the community with data and solutions as well as keep the conversation about food insecurity going.
ProMedica’s Ebeid Center at 1806 Madison Ave. in UpTown also offers free services. They include cooking classes that teach food-insecure residents how to spread out their food through the week while eating a healthy meal, said Kate Sommerfeld, ProMedica’s vice president of community relations and social investment.
Food delivery
Rev. Daniel Stevenson’s Toledo Southside Life Station delivers fresh food for food-insecure residents across the city but is looking for financial assistance to keep the service going.
Mr. Stevenson attended a city of Toledo committee meeting for American Rescue Plan Act funding. The committee was discussing how to spend the $180 million relief funds Toledo received from the federal government.
He asked the committee to consider allocating some of those funds to the Life Station, which would help the emergency food need in the city, he said.
City Councilman Theresa Gadus’ office reached out to Mr. Stephenson about the meeting, which is why he attended, he said.
“The meeting was an opportunity to propose relief for the Life Station or, at the very least, the Life Station model as a solution to some of the problems that we have,” Mr. Stephenson said.
The food bank discovered there are barriers for some households to be able to receive emergency food, with 40 percent of its customers being served by delivery, he said.
“When we set up the framework for the ARPA, we put $1 million aside to address these issues,” Ms. Gadus said. “I think we [city council] make sure we’re working on those solutions and spending that money.”
“It’s all hands on deck,” Ms. Gadus said. “There are a lot of people in the community that have been having conversations and I’ve been having conversations with them about getting a plan together that the city can support.
“We’ve been looking at food policy, healthy food systems, resilience, access, and how we can work together because things always work when we’re all working together to reach a common goal,” she said.
First Published February 11, 2023, 3:30 p.m.
