Food and nutrition professionals play a key role in the fight against hunger and malnutrition, in the developing world and here at home. That is why I am delighted the Journal has joined this month with more than 200 medical and scientific journals around the world on the Council of Science Editors’ Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development.
Congratulations to Editor-in-Chief Linda Van Horn, PhD, RD, and her team for involving the Journal in this unique and important effort. In addition to reading this issue, share it—and share the news of the Global Theme Issue—with your colleagues in all health fields. Help them understand the importance of dietetics and the role of collaboration in solving a health problem that affects the entire world.
Some find it hard to believe that people still go hungry in the world’s wealthiest nation. But we know in the midst of plenty, access to a nutritious and adequate diet can be a challenge: the child who eats balanced meals only through school breakfast and lunch programs; the family that relies on a local food pantry to make ends meet; the elderly person who might have to choose between purchasing medications or food. Proper nutrition becomes secondary to the simple need to eat.
Committed to the Cause
ADA speaks with a unique and authoritative voice in addressing hunger and its related problems of food security, safety, and sustainability. The members of ADA’s Hunger and Environmental Nutrition (HEN) dietetic practice group display real national leadership in promoting “access to nutritious food and clean water from a secure and sustainable environment.” My thanks and appreciation to HEN and to all ADA members working in community nutrition, clinical nutrition, industry, and the full range of practice areas who are committed to this cause and are working to make solutions happen.
“Listening to the voices of those in need of food assistance is a first logical step in tackling the problems of food insecurity and hunger, both here and in other countries,” says Kelly D. Horton, MS, RD, a member of ADA and HEN. She is the founder of Connect Nutrition, a Seattle, WA, firm that brings nonprofits, government, small businesses, and community groups together, particularly to assist low-income families and communities.
“Here in Washington, Connect Nutrition worked with Northwest Harvest, our state’s only statewide hunger relief agency, to conduct focus groups of food bank clients to find out what would need to change for them to be food secure. The reasons here are not so different from those heard in other states and around the world—the high cost of food, low-paying jobs, lack of transportation, lack of education. People living in poverty face a mountain of barriers to putting healthy food on the table.”
Horton is absolutely right, especially in saying community-wide solutions are needed to address hunger. I encourage ADA’s community practitioners to share similar examples of success stories that your fellow members can emulate.
Advocacy on Hunger Issues
For ADA, ending hunger goes hand in hand with ensuring all people have access to—and knowledge of—a nutritious diet. A number of domestic and international anti-hunger programs are up for review by Congress as part of the 2007 Farm Bill. I encourage you to read ADA’s recommendations for the Farm Bill, which are available under the Advocacy and the Profession tab on ADA’s Web site. ADA is advocating for programs that recognize and address hunger, improve access to nutritious food and provide much-needed nutrition education.
And we look beyond the US border as well. ADA believes everyone—regardless of nationality or economic status, conditions of war or peace—should be free of hunger and have access to a nutritionally adequate diet. ADA joins with those who stand against the use of food as a sanction against other nations. And we call for the continuation of emergency humanitarian food assistance.
On the Front Lines
Publications from dozens of health and science organizations are represented in the Council of Science Editors’ Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development. I am proud that the American Dietetic Association and our members are recognized as being on the front lines in confronting hunger and promoting healthier diets for all people.
The Journal’s participation in the Global Issue and the amazing contributions by this month’s authors, from cover to cover, represent a milestone for ADA. By publishing research in collaboration with our colleagues in medicine and other life sciences, we communicate the relevance of nutrition and the dietetics professional to a global audience on this subject of grave importance and great interest, and further elevate the profile of food and nutrition professionals.
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