Sponsored by:
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma
July 12 Opening Session – The Causes and Consequences of Hunger
We kicked off the series with a lively opening session with Keynote Speaker Dr. Craig Gundersen:
A Clear Path to Eliminating Food Insecurity in the United States
Food insecurity has become the leading indicator of economic well-being among vulnerable Americans for two central reasons. First, the extent of the problem is enormous – almost 40 million Americans are food insecure. Second, there are multiple negative health outcomes associated with food insecurity which lead to corresponding higher health care costs and higher rates of mortality. In this presentation, Gundersen reviews how food insecurity is measured; provides a broad overview of food insecurity in the U.S. and in particular, Oklahoma; and considers some groups that are often overlooked when examining food insecurity. He then turns to how we can use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to essentially eliminate food insecurity.
Learning objectives:
Understand how to measure food insecurity
Understand the determinants of food insecurity
Understand the role SNAP plays in alleviating food insecurity
Craig Gundersen is the Snee Family Endowed Chair at the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty (BCHP) and a Professor in the Department of Economics at Baylor University. He is also on the Technical Advisory Group for Feeding America, the lead researcher on Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap project, the Managing Editor for Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, a Round Table Fellow of the Farm Foundation, and a Faculty Affiliate of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) at the University of Notre Dame. His research concentrates on the causes and consequences of food insecurity and on the evaluation of food assistance programs, with an emphasis on SNAP. Gundersen is a Fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economic Association (AAEA).
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