How Unfamiliar Fish Are Helping Mainers Fight Food Insecurity

In Maine, Atlantic Sea Farms is harvesting kelp while helping lobster farmers diversify their income in preparation for climate change effects. The farm provides free kelp seed to its farmers and promises a buyback guarantee for everything they grow. At the same time, the kelp removes carbon and nitrogen to help mitigate climate change effects warming the water.

More and more public libraries around the United States are creating seed libraries as a way to encourage gardening, combat hunger insecurity, and build community resilience. For example, the Jefferson Public Library in Georgia has seen the number of people using the seed library grow to more than 300 in 2021. It can be a lot of work to maintain the seed libraries, but some librarians see it as a way to engage the community.

A community-based seafood program called Fiishadelphia is the first community supported fishery run by high-school students in the city. They offer locally harvested and affordable seafood to a diverse customer base with an emphasis on accessibility for those experiencing economic hardship. The major cost is the distribution, delivery, and operation of the program, but so far, they have purchased 5,000 pounds of various types of fish and 25,000 pounds of shellfish and have connected community members directly to the suppliers.

Community Services Unlimited (CSU) is a local organization in Southern California that is helping to increase access to healthy foods for families all year round, but especially now during the Covid-19 pandemic. Unlike many food aid programs, the goal of CSU is not just to provide food, but to "create more empowered food communities" by teaching the local community valuable and usable skills around food production and distribution.

Aquaponics, a soilless method of farming that combines aquaculture and hydroponic techniques, has provided an affordable and adaptable method for growing traditional cultural Mvskoke foods, such as tobacco, pumpkins, corn, pinto beans, honeysuckle, and minara. Grant funding has enabled tribal members to use aquaponic systems to produce crops and fortify food systems against climate change.

Nonprofits and coastal communities are popularizing sustainable fishing practices and fishery management to allow ocean ecosystems to bounce back from overfishing and sustain the fishing industry long-term. For example, a community-led organization in Scotland campaigned to create the country’s first “No Take Zone” marine reserve, and a nonprofit in Hawaii is restoring fishponds to revive traditional Hawaiian aquaculture.

A group of volunteers in Luxembourg City collects edible food that shops and restaurants would dispose of at the end of the day to keep it from ending up in the garbage. Members of the organization, called Foodsharing Luxembourg, are informed through an app when food is available for pickup. Once they claim an order, they pick up everything the store offers and decide how it gets redistributed.

Cooking to Share allows fifth- and sixth-grade students to cook meals for families in need. Since its inception, the program has served 78 families in the county, while teaching 2,000 students about cooking, food safety, foodborne illnesses, and cleanliness.

The “one cow per poor family” initiative in Rwanda seeks to increase household income and fight malnutrition by giving families a cow to raise. Once the cow gives birth, the calf is given to another family to raise, keeping the process going. Since the program started in 2006, a total of 341,065 cows have been distributed and residents say it has improved their livelihoods.

In the district of Bijapur, a town in India, there was a malnutrition rate of 40 per cent in 2019. In order to tackle the problem officials identified the areas with high malnutrition and directed their efforts to those places. They introduced nutrient rich millets in child care centers. They also created kitchen gardens to provide the community with access to fresh vegetables. Finally, they brought Nutrient Rehabilitation Centers in the community since parents were hesitant to take their children to them. Two years later, malnutrition rates dropped by 12 percent.