EXAM 1, due by 8:00 AM, Monday, 6 MAR 06.

I was recently approached by Linda Nickerson, Development Director at Harvest Texarkana.  Ms. Nickerson is interested in using future classes for projects associated with her organization.  From our brief meeting, my understanding is that Harvest Texarkana is a "food bank" that is involved in issues of hunger in the local area, but it does more than simply store food.  In association with the kinds of issues that are outlined below, she is interested in ensuring that Harvest Texarkana is taking a proactive role in the local community. 

Before going further to discuss anything more specific, Ms. Nickerson left me with a link to the USDA Food Security Toolkit.  You don't need to find this book to write your report; the following is a condensation of relevant definitions and issues (for the purpose of this exam) that were copied from the first chapter of the Toolkit. 

Food Security
Access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.  Food security includes at a minimum:

  • The ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods.
  • An assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.

Food Insecurity
Limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.

Hunger
The uneasy or painful sensation caused by a lack of food.  The recurrent and involuntary lack of access to food.

Communities may be considered to be food insecure if

  • There are inadequate resources from which people can purchase foods.
  • The available food purchasing resources are not accessible to all community members.
  • The food available through the resources is not sufficient in quantity or variety.
  • The food available is not competitively priced and thus is not affordable to all households.
  • There are inadequate food assistance resources to help low-income people purchase foods at retail markets.
  • There are no local food production resources.
  • Locally produced food is not available to community members.
  • There is no support for local food production resources.
  • There is any significant household food insecurity within the community.

Examples of policies and programs implemented to improve community food security include:

  • Food stamp outreach programs that help increase the number of eligible households that participate in the Food Stamp Program.
  • Farmers' markets that boost incomes of small, local farmers and increase consumers' access to fresh produce.
  • Community gardens that help public housing residents and other low-income consumers supplement their diets with home-grown produce.
  • Asset development programs that assist low-income families to accumulate funds for obtaining additional education, purchasing a home, or starting a business.
  • Food-buying cooperatives that help families save money by pooling food purchases.
  • Community-supported agriculture programs that can help provide small farmers with economic stability and consumers with high-quality produce.
  • Farm-to-school initiatives that help local farmers sell fresh fruits and vegetables directly to school meals programs.
  • Community kitchens that provide job training to the unemployed while converting surplus food to meals for the needy.

An ultimate end goal is a "food secure" community in which all people have access to a culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through non-emergency (or conventional) food sources at all times.

Write a report that includes a list of the ten (10) most important questions that I should ask Ms. Nickerson in our next meeting.  Justify each question: provide a rationale for each question as to why this is an important question.  Justify the entire set of questions by explaining why your list is a complete set for meeting my objectives as a marketing consultant.

You do not have a page limit, but longer isn't necessarily better; a longer report is often more confusing.  Note that issues of spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, and such are important considerations at the MBA level. 

Include a cover page as the LAST page of your submission.  This cover page must list your name and section (afternoon or evening).  Do not put your name anywhere else on the report - this is to assist me in "blind" assessment of student submissions.

This is not a research project; you are being asked to advise on information collection, not to collect any information.  You should be able to write this report in the normal amount of time that is allotted to a single class period using only our class discussions and materials that have been used in this course.  Importantly, you are expected to base your report on issues that have been discussed in class; "shooting from the hip" is likely to result in a failing grade.  You are writing this report as a professional proposal to me; quoting or citing a textbook, a website, or me is inappropriate.

The exam is due by due by 8:00 AM, Monday, 6 MAR 06.  You may e-mail as a word-processed attachment or submit personally.  Note that the doors to enter the building are often locked prior to closing.  If you e-mail your exam as an attachment, you will get a reply saying that the attachment has been received and successfully opened; send a reminder or call if you do not.  Send to:

robert(dot)owen(at)tamut(dot)edu

phone: 903-223-3010