Fresh Take: Hunger On The Rise In America

Have you pre-ordered your turkey? Or the giant mushroom caps, cauliflower head, bone-in glazed ham, or whatever else you are serving as the centerpiece for your Thanksgiving meal? Now is the time—especially if you are trying to source meat that’s more ethically and sustainably raised.

It’s also a good time to think deeper about getting involved with your community. The Agriculture Department released its annual report on food insecurity in America this week, and the results are devastating. Hunger is getting worse: Some 17 million households reported being food insecure in 2022. That’s 12.8% of American homes, up from rates in 2021 and 2020 that hovered just over 10%. Another statistic to take a moment to reflect on: One third of households with children headed by a single mother experienced hunger.

This holiday season, donate a turkey to a local drive or take on a whole meal for a family. Volunteer at a food pantry, soup kitchen or shelter. Start a community farm share where some of the bounty is donated. These are all small starts, but together, community by community, there’s hope that hunger can recede.

— Chloe Sorvino, Staff Writer

Order my book, Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed and the Fight for the Future of Meat, out now from Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books.

This is Forbes’ Fresh Take newsletter, which every Friday brings you the latest on the big ideas changing the future of food. Want to get it in your inbox every week? Sign up here.

What’s Fresh

Water Stewardship Will Be One Of The Biggest Food Trends In 2024

As environmental consciousness continues to shape consumer choices, water stewardship is set to become one of the top food trends for 2024.

With the theme ‘Water is Life, Water is Food. Leave No One Behind,’ United Nations World Food Day 2023 emphasized the critical role of water in supporting life and its interconnected relationship with food. In a video message delivered on October 16, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that “The sustainable management of water for agriculture and food production is essential to end hunger, achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and preserve water for future generations.”

Coalition Calls For A Stronger Food Systems Approach At COP28

As the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change approaches, a powerful coalition comprising more than 80 organizations has issued an urgent plea to incorporate a food systems approach within the UNFCCC.

Kitchen Arts & Letters, NY Bookstore Specializing In Food And Drink Turns 40

Don’t be fooled: Kitchen Arts & Letters, set in a former butcher shop, may seem small, but it stocks about 12,000 titles and now celebrates 40 years on the block.

Meet The Colonel Sanders Of Cheesesteaks

Derrick Hayes, founder and CEO of Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks, reveals his formula for franchising and working with his wife and Slutty Vegan founder Pinky Cole.

Field Notes

This week’s event at Boulder Book Store for my book Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed and the Fight for the Future of Meat was everything I’d hoped it would be. There were so many audience questions, I could hardly contain my enthusiasm. I celebrated with a smothered ground bison burrito that made me wonder why Colo-Mex isn’t a household name alongside Tex-Mex.

Thanks for reading the 91st edition of Forbes Fresh Take! Let me know what you think. Subscribe to Forbes Fresh Take here.

Chloe Sorvino leads coverage of food and agriculture as a staff writer on the enterprise team at Forbes. Her book, Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed and the Fight for the Future of Meat, published on December 6, 2022, with Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books. Her nearly nine years of reporting at Forbes has brought her to In-N-Out Burger’s secret test kitchen, drought-ridden farms in California’s Central Valley, burnt-out national forests logged by a timber billionaire, a century-old slaughterhouse in Omaha and even a chocolate croissant factory designed like a medieval castle in northern France.