Dr. Craig Gundersen, Snee Family Endowed Chair and professor in the Department of Economics at Baylor University, will speak on food insecurity in the United States from a Catholic perspective on Friday, Sept. 4, at 2 p.m. in O’Brien 150AB.
Almost 50 million Americans are food insecure. In response, both government and non-government interventions provide food to those who are experiencing or at risk of food insecurity. Catholics have been at the forefront of these efforts in multiple capacities and, more broadly, in drawing attention to the need to reduce food insecurity in order to fully promote human flourishing. Gundersen places these efforts within Catholic Social Teaching, with a particular emphasis on three key components – dignity, solidarity and subsidiarity. After a brief review of CST, he discusses food insecurity with an emphasis on groups that are especially vulnerable to food insecurity. The primary government program used in the U.S. to reduce food insecurity is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program). Gundersen provides an overview followed by how it can be seen as promoting CST.
In addition to his roles at Baylor, Gundersen is the creator of Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap project, a Round Table Fellow of the Farm Foundation and a Faculty Affiliate of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) at the University of Notre Dame. His research concentrates on the causes and consequences of food insecurity and on the evaluation of food assistance programs, with an emphasis on SNAP. Gundersen is a Fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economic Association (AAEA).
