"It's not so much doing similar things but things that are appropriate for each campus," says WSU professor Deborah Ballard-Reisch, who has led hunger awareness efforts.
the idea is to reframe the discussion so that it's not about charity. Hunger is a multifaceted problem with complex solutions."
Estimates are that 1 in 6 Kansans are "food insecure," a term the U.S. government uses to mean a person's consistent access to adequate food is limited by money and other resources. Another measure of the problem is the number of Kansans -- nearly 200,000 each year -- who receive emergency food through food banks and other organizations.
SOWING THE SEEDS O F T R A N S F O R M AT I O N
The food insecurity rate is highest in some of the state's most populated areas, plus the southeast region and northeast edge. Riley County and Geary County, where Manhattan and Fort Riley are located, share the highest food insecurity rate -- 18.4 percent. The figure comes from Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap Project. The problem is even more pronounced for the state’s children. Nearly 23 percent, about 162,400 children, are food insecure in Kansas. Woodson County has the highest percentage number of food-insecure children in the state, 32.5 percent. Sedgwick County has the highest numbers of food-insecure children (30,630) followed by Johnson (24,840), Wyandotte (12,070) and Shawnee (10,360) counties. "Initially, the (Hunger) Dialogue existed to raise awareness of the issue," says Josh Mosier, this past year’s executive director of Kansas Campus Compact, which hosts the event. "Now that we're in year four,
Students at Kansas State University have a long history of helping the Flint Hills Breadbasket food pantry in Manhattan, which primarily serves city residents rather than students. For 18 years, an event known as "Cats For Cans" has collected cash and canned food donations for the pantry prior to a K-State Wildcats home football game. Hunger relief and awareness efforts have grown along with the university's School of Leadership Studies. Much of what's taught in the school should sound familiar to anyone who's been through the Kansas Leadership Center's training in principles and competencies. In class, students spend time diagnosing situations and analyzing stakeholder perspectives in the community they're trying to impact. Outside class, they try not just to complete service projects, but to engage those different stakeholders as well. "There are so many leadership aspects to it," K-State teacher and academic adviser Lori Kniffin says. "Hunger is an issue students can connect to and start practicing some of those competencies."