Ending Hunger in America, 2014 Hunger Report Full Report | Page 131
CHAPTER 4
Indianapolis, Indiana: Hoosier Pie
The Indianapolis story illustrates how local leaders are working to build
a broader coalition of stakeholders fighting hunger in their communities by
raising public awareness—not only of the problem, but also the solutions.
People who fight hunger at the local level have a gut feeling
that the United States would be a hungry country indeed without
SNAP and other nutrition programs. In Indianapolis, Dave
Miner, chair of the Indy Hunger Network (IHN) and former
Indianapolis
board chair of Bread for the World, wanted something more than
a gut feeling when he talked with people in the community. His
wife Robin collected information on all the major sources of food
assistance in Indianapolis. Data were readily accessible. Federal
nutrition program data were available from the state agencies
that administer them. Figuring out the rest required some phone
calls and emails to private charities, but this didn’t prove difficult either.
By crunching the numbers, the Miners discovered that federal nutrition programs accounted for more than 90 percent of the food assistance
in Indianapolis in 2012. SNAP’s contribution alone was 73 percent. The largest contributor
on the private sector side was Gleaners, the Indianapolis area food bank that is the face of
hunger relief for many Indy residents. Gleaners represented 4 percent. See Figure 4.2.
Robin developed a simple pie chart so that anyone can visualize where Indianapolis’ food
assistance comes from. When they show it to the people they hope will support IHN’s work,
most of them are taken aback by the size of the federal government’s contribution. A typical
reaction is, “Does it look like this
everywhere?” In fact, it does. IndiaFigure 4.2 Sources of Food Assistance, Indianapolis (2012)
napolis is not an anomaly when it
comes to the amount of work the
Gleaners
(Non-USDA)
federal nutrition programs are
1% - CICOA, St. Vincent DePaul,
4%
doing to end hunger.
Meals On Wheels
WIC
1% - Second Helpings
When people think about food
5%
assistance in their community,
1% - Gleaners (USDA)
School/
the pictures that come to mind
1% - Midwest Food Bank
Summer
are neighbors providing food to
11%
2% - Assumed Community Response
neighbors, children collecting
SNAP
4% - Gleaners (Non-USDA)
canned goods for a food drive at
73%
5% - WIC (USDA)
their school, the food pantry in a
church basement, a soup kitchen
11% - School/Summer (USDA)
for homeless people. A government
73% - SNAP (USDA)
program does not seem the same
as a neighbor, and media visibility
for SNAP is mostly congressional
rhetoric. Another reason SNAP is
Source: Indy Hunger Network (2013).
not recognized as the vital program
Indiana
Oregon
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