Food Insecurity &

Nutrition
Juhi Shah
 Hi!
༝ Senior in Food Science & Human
Nutrition (Dietetics)
༝ Areas of interest:
○ Food insecurity
○ Social justice (health
inequalities)
○ Community nutrition
○ Eating disorders
༝ I hope to be a Certified Eating
Disorder Registered Dietitian
(CEDRD)!!
༝ Education and Training for Health
(EAT4Health)
(eat4healthuiuc@gmail.com)
༝ I work for SNAP-Ed :)
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 Hitting Close to Home
23, 020
People are food insecure in Champaign County

66%
Are eligible for SNAP benefits (165% under poverty)

36%
Of all college students do not know where their next meal is coming from

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 Health (In)Equity
༝ Systemic inequalities have reduced access to
○ Health care
○ Healthy food
○ Safe places to be active

༝ Prevalent in minority populations in the U.S.

○ Obesity
○ Diabetes
○ CKD
○ Food insecurity

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Effects on Nutrition Status
༝ Malnutrition (deficiency,
excess, or imbalance of
any nutrient)

༝ Stunt physical,
psychological, and
emotional growth

༝ Increases risk for

diseases (obesity, PEW,
iron-def. anemia)

༝ End the vicious cycle!!

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Tips for Healthy & Affordable Meals
༝ Looks for fruits & veggies in season in Illinois!
○ Cheaper and at peak nutritional value!

༝ Farmers Markets: cheaper & support local businesses!

༝ Frozen fruits/veggies
○ Picked and froze at PEAK harvest
○ Cheaper, lasts longer
○ Equally (maybe even more) nutritious!

༝ Affordable, nutritionally dense food: eggs, dairy, grains (rice &

oats!), canned meats, dry beans/lentils

༝ Spice (and herb) it up!!

༝ Buying in bulk? Depends on the situation (SNAP)

༝ Compare prices between brands/stores, use coupons, sign up for

rewards programs if they’re free!
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PickYourOwn.Org

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What can YOU do?
 So much!
1. Educate yourself and others
2. Volunteer at food pantries, soup kitchens,
and of course IFH:)
3. Start a food drive
4. Support organizations like Feeding
America and No Kid Hungry
5. Write to your local congressperson about
federal programs such as WIC or SNAP

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If you want to learn more….
Eastern Illinois Food Bank (for more place to
volunteer, donate)
Illinois Extension (for recipes, tips, resources)
Feeding America Food Insecurity Map
Healthy People 2020 (more info on this topic,
what the U.S. is doing about it)

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 Thank you!
If you have any questions, feel free to reach
out at juhiss2@illinois.edu :)

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