By Marc H. Morial, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Urban League; Donnie Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, Tyson Foods
On the surface, it may appear that Tyson Foods and the National Urban League have little in common. Our two organizations may seem like an unlikely combination, at least to those who don’t know much about us or our values. But sometimes folks with different backgrounds are bound by a shared vision that allows them to do great things. Shared passion can indeed fuel the actions necessary to accomplish what would otherwise be impossible.
Tyson Foods and the National Urban League share a vision, and it’s a pretty simple idea. We believe that people deserve to eat – that it’s a basic civil right for all human beings, and we are working together to make our vision a reality.
Access to food and resources to care for one’s family are deeply personal to both of our organizations and strongly embedded in our respective cultures. We also see the value in the proverb that encourages more than feeding people for a day, but also teaching them how to fish so that they may feed themselves for a lifetime.
According to recently released data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), approximately 49 million people in the United States live in food-insecure households, with nearly 16 million of them being children.
In other words, 14 percent of American households faced difficulty in providing food for their members at some point during the year.
In Middle Tennessee, that number equates to nearly 400,000 people. We know that food insecurity contributes to negative consequences that have an impact on individual health and wellness, and ultimately, quality of life. As a result of our joint passion for hunger awareness and hunger relief, Tyson Foods and the National Urban League formed a joint “KNOW Hunger” campaign in 2012, first in Jackson, Mississippi.
Based on the success of this program, we launched an expanded two-year program in Nashville in August of 2013 in partnership with the Urban League of Middle Tennessee called “KNOW Hunger Nashville.” Through a variety of strategically timed, high-impact events, nearly 15,000 people in the Greater Nashville area were reached with information about local food resources for families, the hunger epidemic among socio- economically disadvantaged communities in general, the challenges associated with access to affordable nutrition – including food deserts, and effective utilization of food assistance, such as SNAP and food banks.
Additionally, more than 3,000 people received direct services, and more than 2,500 of them had the opportunity to enroll in programs, initiatives or services.
As we enter our second year of KNOW Hunger Nashville, following Hunger Action Month in September, we reflect on our two campaign goals: immediate hunger relief and awareness of the issue. We didn’t set out to merely write a check and pose for photo opportunities.
That wouldn’t be nearly good enough to accomplish our goals, nor would it be true to the high-touch cultures we represent. Instead, we came to Nashville, shook hands with the folks fighting to end hunger here, and we listened. In the process, we learned that hunger is in virtually every com- munity, big and small, rural and urban, and that 14.9% of Middle Tennesseans face food insecurity.
With the National Urban League’s remarkable ability to mobilize communities and Tyson Foods’ long history of hunger awareness, we believe we can make a real difference in this community and many more, step by step. Creating this kind of awareness is the only way to move the needle to make a difference in our communities.
We have big things planned for 2015, including extended relationships and programs with our current partners, and we urge members of the community, public and private organizations to get involved as well. Anyone interested in joining our fight through KNOW Hunger Nashville can visit www.TysonHungerRelief.com to learn how to help make a difference.
In 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for the minds and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.”
We, too, have the same audacity and will continue to move forward with the fight. At a time when one in seven households faces the daunting challenge of food insecurity, everyone can do something.