Connect the dots: Hunger is a distribution problem
When I was a student at the University of Maryland, MBA program we had a case study. The case study focused on a hospital that had an unsuccessful merger with an insurance company. The question was why did it fail? It failed because the 2 divisions - Hospital, Insurance Company could not both be profitable at the same time. In order for the hospital to make more money, it had to bill the insurance company which caused the insurance company to sustain losses. In order for the insurance company to be profitable, the insurer had to deny claims which made the hospital sustain losses.
This is the same argument I could make for non-profit organizations. In order for non-profits to be profitable (serve more people and make the case for more funding) they need people to be denied food, electricity, shelter, etc... So if the non-profit is profitable then people don’t have basic services to live. If the people have basic services then the non-profit organization suffers a loss. There is absolutely NO business incentive for the non-profit to actually become more efficient with the resources we have to help people get the required food, electricity, shelter, transportation to become productive members of society. In order words, we cannot use business model for profitably (which is also in the non-profit world) above all else to SOLVE inequitable food distribution.
NBC 10, https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/pennsylvania-food-stamps-snap-losing-benefits-broke-in-philly/2254682/, wrote "About 50,000 Pennsylvanians who rely on the federal food stamp program stand to lose their benefits under a new Trump administration rule that will tighten work requirements for recipients. The rule, announced Wednesday, will limit the ability of states to exempt work-eligible adults from having to obtain steady employment in order to receive benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Program, known as SNAP, which feeds more than 36 million people nationally. In Pennsylvania, the majority of people who will be affected by the change live in Philadelphia. According to Philabundance, approximately 38,000 Philadelphians will lose access to SNAP."’
In order to SEE the problem differently there are some agreements both sides - non-profit business and government have to make
The list begins with :
1) In the richest country in the world, we have enough food to feed everyone
2) SNAP benefits and the non-profit model to feed others that do not qualify for benefits are not the 100% solution to the problem.
3) Everyone needs to eat (but they do not necessarily need to be counted/tracked)
4) Hunger is multi layered in the distribution matrix
- Homeless population can not access a pantry as they don't have the facilities to cook nor qualify for SNAP without an address
- Children are dependent on parents for their basic(food, shelter and clothing) needs
- Senior citizens are dependent upon others for transportation or information to get food services
- Food desert’s need to answer a different question. Is the issue transportation to different supermarkets?
The business model/mission has to find ways to reward efficiency (decreasing the amount of people who are in need of services in the population) instead being rewarded with more resources as poverty/hunger/homelessness increases.
For good reason, the United States is behind the times in finding new solutions to this issue. According to Investopdeia , https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/100615/4-countries-produce-most-food.asp, "three countries (the U.S., China, and India) each produce more food than the entire European Union put together. In fourth place is Brazil; its food industry tilts heavily towards sugarcane, soybeans, and beef." In other words, food is a very PROFITABLE industry for the United States. Would non-business models for food distribution affect the profit margins for the U.S. food industry? Should we protect business profits or vulnerable citizen populations. Is it possible to do both?
In my next article I will delve into NEW solutions since I had laid the case that a business model can not solve this issue.
About the author: Nicole previously served on the board for the SHARE food program. Now, she looking to help feed people through fundraising for United Ummah of Philadelphia - https://www.facebook.com/donate/2443545279089538/