One in every six people suffer from food insecurity.
Dr. Tom O’Donnell, a fairly new professor at Cabrini College, has been educating students in his ECG classes about how big of an issue food insecurity is. O’Donnell, an employee of the Environmental Protection Agency, brought his passion for changing the status of food insecurity to the classroom.
O’Donnell does not really enjoy teaching in front of a class room. “Hunger at your Finger Tips” is the title of his class and brings more than just a lesson plan to his discussion.
“I feel that taking students out into the real world and letting them experience going to pantries and raising awareness in food insecurity is part of the all-around lesson,” O’Donnell said. “I want to know how I can get involved. Students, the community around the campus and off campus could get involved with giving back and feeding those in need. I am very involved with developing programs in the Wolfington Center and with the EPA,” O’Donnell said.
Students taking this class have not only taken a course to earn credits but this class enlightens them to push to make a difference.
“This class has opened my eye to the ways of how people live a life of no food everyday and the constant worry if they can eat at all,” Tim Atallah, sophomore ECG student, said.
So what is food insecurity? According to servingfoodsolutions.com, the Cabrini College honors convergences project, Food Insecurity is defined by the USDA as “limited or uncertain availability of nutrition- ally adequate and safe foods, or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.” O’Donnell is bringing this awareness to Cabrini College alongside working with Cathy Yungmann, a Cabrini College communications professor. They bring awareness by creating small projects and videos that show what people really go through and the choices they make. 49.1 million people are food insecure and these numbers continue to rise. Only a change in how people dispose of their food will lower those numbers.
“People waste food and do not even realize it, if we could create a way to recycle food on this campus and make it something healthy it would truly make a difference. It would also teach students through- out the college that they are truly engaging in the concept of the ECG classes,” O’Donnell said. With Yunngman and O’Donnell working side by side with their talents of capturing video and dedication to the projects, this message will reach people all over.
“After Tom and I met, we wanted to go out and get communication about how to transform surplus food, learn how it is used and how to make it valuable,” Yungmann said.
O’Donnell may only be currently a professor on the Cabrini College campus for a year and a half, but has plans to bring a long lasting food pantry to the college.
“Tom has such a great ability to communicate with students, it is just unreal. He is always trying to make a difference and is very passionate. He will do anything he sets his mind to,” Yungmann said.
The fight to end food insecurity and to spread awareness begins here at Cabrini College with O’Donnell.
“Having a food pantry on Cabrini College’s campus will not only bring in food to donate, but it will make food insecurity more of a remembering subject and not acceptable at Cabrini College,” O’Donnell said.
