Social Innovation in Hunger Relief

Introduction

Innovation is one of the ways that human beings have been able to make great changes in the world. It is through innovation that processes have become more streamlined, great businesses have been created, diseases have been cured, and many other changes have taken place that has served to make the human experience better. A key type of innovation that has gained traction over the last few years is social innovation. According to Milley et al. (2018), social innovation has garnered prominence over the years because it is a means through which social problems and needs can be addressed. Van der Have & Rubalcaba (2016), note that social innovation continues to rise in the face of social and societal challenges and as a means of local development. Social Innovation involves the community, and a lot of creativity is employed to ensure that sustainable solutions to community problems are generated. The social innovation project that will be discussed in this paper is the Holiday Hunger Project in St. Matthews area in Leicester. The program is a project that feeds children during their own summer, and it is one that is spearheaded by the St. Matthews City council. The report shall identify the problem that led to the program being created, and the various stakeholders, creation process, solutions and sustainability of the program shall be discussed.

Problem Identification/Needs Analysis

Summer holidays take place around the whole world. It is a time where children get to spend at least six-weeks at home as they take a break from school. The summer holiday is characterized by having a lot of fun, but that is not the case for many children in Leicester and the UK in general. Foster (2018), notes that for thousands of families the summer holidays are not characterized by playing and having fun in the sun, but they are filled with acute financial stress, hunger, and malnourishment. The reason why the holidays are filled with acute hunger and malnourishment has to do with the absence of free school meals for children who come from low incomes. The meals tend to cost between £30-£40 a week which is a lot of money for low-income families (Foster 2018). Across the whole of the UK, three million children are at risk of experiencing hunger during the school holidays (Foster 2018). According to Palmer (2018), the issue of children experiencing hunger is set to increase as the deal to leave the European Union is being finalized. The reason that the deal will cause holiday hunger to increase is that it will affect the prices and the supply of different foods. The UK will lose access to the single market of Europe from which some of the food is imported, and that will have adverse effects on the supply of the food (Palmer 2018). Since supply will decrease, the prices are expected to increase which will put food out of the reach of families that are already struggling. Therefore, the key problem is holiday hunger, and it has to be addressed through socially innovative practices.

The root causes of holiday hunger are chiefly economic. According to McPhail (2018), holiday hunger is the effect, but it is not the cause. To deal with the effect, the cause must be addressed, and that is the fact that there are many households that live-in low-income families. Stewart, Watson, and Campbell (2018), the effects of poverty are magnified over the summer holiday, and one of the consequences is holiday hunger. The summer holiday entails increased financial pressures, poor health, food insecurity, and exclusion for healthful and culturally enriching activities (Stewart, Watson and Campbell 2018). The bigger issue is not holiday hunger, but it is the consequence that can be directly addressed since changing the other issues that contribute to holiday hunger will take a long time. The barrier to solving the problem is first economic. Money is needed to procure the food that will feed the children during the holidays. Second, it is political. The ongoing political turmoil pertaining to Brexit will affect the supply of food which may increase the prices thus pushing food further away from the families that need it. Third, it is communal. For the proposed changes to take place and to take effect the community must contribute to ensure that the changes are sustainable for the long term. The key feeding program that is the focus of this paper is the Holiday Huger Project in St. Matthews area in Leicester. The program is basically the solution to holiday hunger in Leicester, and it endeavors to feed the local children during the summer holiday. Kendall (2018) notes that since 2014, the city council, together with Action Homeless and other community groups have been working together to come to the aid of families that struggle during the summer holidays. The program provides more than 15,000 lunchtime meals for children who rely on the free meals that they receive in school. Action Homeless (2018) notes that they strive to ensure that no child goes hungry during the six-week summer holiday. The program has ensured that children receive nutritious meals in a situation where they would not receive any meal. The program is not for profit, but it is to combat holiday hunger amongst the children. As such, the program is run by volunteers in the sense that they do not have enough money to hire permanent staff. Due to that, they have to lean on volunteers in relation to meal preparation and meal delivery. Moreover, they require funds from various donors to ensure that the program is successful in relation to the procurement of food and various implements that will be used during the preparation process.

Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem/Stakeholder Map

The St. Matthews Community project is important since it aims to combat holiday hunger for children who rely on school meals. For the program to be successful, a number of stakeholders are required. Generally, the majority of the stakeholders will be volunteers. It is the volunteers who are the people on the ground; they are the ones who are involved in the food preparation process; they are the ones who will deliver the food, and they are the ones who may be aware of the different nutritional needs that children will require. In terms of expert stakeholders, a key stakeholder(s) that will be required is a nutritionist(s). The nutritionists will be aware of the different nutritional needs that children have and how to meet those needs during the six-week period. Additionally, the nutritionists will suggest different food groups that will meet the nutritional needs that children have when they are growing up while at the same time breaking the monotony of food (MSVU 2019). It is possible to prepare the same meal every day, but even if the meal is nutritious, the children will get tired of consuming the same meal every day. Therefore, a nutritionist is highly important since they will suggest different food groups that will meet the children’s nutritional needs. The other key stakeholder is the city council. The city council is a key stakeholder since they will provide resources that will help increase the breadth that the program will encompass which will ensure that more children are fed during the summer holiday. The other stakeholders that are needed are people who are well versed in emergency knowledge. Not all children will be “healthy”; some will have diseases while at the same time there are others who may be allergic to some food groups. During the delivery of the food within St. Matthews, it is important that emergency personnel are part of the process so that they can take note of different children who may have health complications. The data gathered by the emergency personnel will also influence the type of food that is prepared for those specific children. The emergency personnel should conduct a survey on the nutritional situation of the children and continue to monitor the situation just in case any changes occur (UNHCR 2019). For example, if a particular child is addicted to gluten, the emergency personnel will take note of that, and during the delivery of the food, the child will receive a gluten-free meal. Other stakeholders that will be required is a coordinator and volunteers to cook and prepare the meals. It is important to have a coordinator since in a sense they are the ones that are in charge of the whole process (Vanagas & Stankevic 2014). Moreover, having an overall coordinator improves the chances of success since people will know whom to turn to when they need help or when some issues arise. A coordinator will maintain the flow from the acquisition of the food to the point of delivery of the food. They will also delegate work in accordance with the volunteer’s skills and also in relation to where there is the greatest need. Therefore, the above are the key stakeholders that will be required to ensure that the program is successful.

Co-creation Process

The co-creation process involves the beneficiaries who in this case are the children together with their parents. For long-term sustainability of the solution, the children and the parents need to be involved in the process. As stated above, one of the key issues that arise relates to the need for volunteers who can prepare and deliver the food. The parents of the children can be asked to volunteer their services on different days or on the same day depending on their availability. Majority of the parents earn very little. Therefore they may spend a lot of their time working to earn a living. However, requesting that they set aside an hour per day or per week, depending on their availability, may help solve the volunteer problem. Some parents can volunteer to cook, others to wrap the food, and others to deliver the food. Some parents may also be well versed in emergency knowledge and nutrition; therefore they can offer their services. Additionally, parents are aware of their children’s nutritional needs more so if their children are allergic to certain foods. Therefore, rather than setting aside time to study every child and their nutritional issues, it is prudent to ask the parents directly. Doing so will help in saving a lot of time and resources which will be channeled into other aspects of the program. The city council should also be involved in the process. The city council has access to resources that not-for-profit organizations cannot access. The key resource that the city council will be able to provide finances. The finances that they provide will be used to procure the food and the various implements that will be required for the whole process. Moreover, the city council will provide a space from where the food can be prepared and delivered or a communal space where the children will come to eat. For the program to be sustainable for the future, it is paramount that the city council is involved in the co-creation process. Additionally, the involvement of the city council will increase the reach of the program. The whole purpose of the program is to ensure that as many children as possible have access to meals during the six-week holiday. As such, the city council will play a pertinent role in increasing the number of children that the program can reach. Therefore, parents and the city council will be critical for the sustainability of the program.

Co-design/co-creation of solutions

It is important to solve the issue since it is part of the UN’s Standard Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are the Global Goals that strive to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity (UNDP 2019). The goals are 17 in total. The proposed social innovation adheres to the second and third goals which are zero hunger and good health and well-being respectively. The program seeks to combat hunger for children who rely on school meals which will, in turn, improve their overall health and well-being. The overall expected result is a program that feeds children from low-income households which will help battle malnourishment. Moreover, parents will not have to worry about what their children will eat during that time since they will be assured that their children have access to nutritious meals each and every day. The involvement of the city council and various volunteers will be key levers of change that will increase the chances of the program being successful.

Sustainability of the solution/Social Impact/Social Value

The solution is sustainable in the long run only if all the key stakeholders that have been identified participate. The city council will aid in providing the resources that will be needed to acquire the food and space from which the food can be prepared. The various volunteers will prepare the food, wrap it up to deliver it to the various children that are in need. Nutritionists will provide their expertise on the food groups that the children will require, and emergency personnel will be on stand by in case of any emergencies. The parents will also be involved since they are the ones that know their children best. Moreover, the involvement of the parents will solve the volunteer crisis that is expected. The activities will be most effective during the summer holiday since the program is meant to feed children during the six-week summer holiday. A key priority lies in the acquisition of a place from where the food can be cooked. Also, various cooking implements will need to be acquired.

After space and the cooking implements have been acquired, it will be important to find means through which nutritious food can be accessed. Local businesses that deal with food can be requested to be part of the process where they can donate the food or offer relatively low wholesale prices that will reduce the amount of money used to buy the food. The timeline will be six-weeks of summer holiday, and if the program continues to prove sustainable, it can be expanded to other times in the year. The social impact of the program is that it will help meet the SDG of zero hunger and good health and well-being. The program will ensure that no child goes hungry during the summer holiday. It will also have ripple effects on the parents because they will know that they do not have to worry about their children not accessing proper meals during the six-week holiday.

Reflection and Self-reflection

The lesson that I learned during the process is that a lot of work goes into developing sustainable social innovation and enterprise which will meet community needs. Not only are a lot of resources required, but a lot of knowledgeable individuals are also required to make the process successful and sustainable for the future. Additionally, I also learned that it is important to align one’s self with the right stakeholders since that may be the difference between sustainability or unsustainability of a program.

Conclusion

Social innovation is a means through which social problems can be addressed. The St. Matthew Holiday Hunger project is a social innovation that strives to feed children during the summer holiday. The key stakeholders of the program are the city council, St. Matthews church, and the volunteers. The key beneficiaries are the children and the parents from low-income households that cannot afford a proper nutritious meal during the summer holiday. The program has great social value since it helps to meet two of the UN’s Standard Development Goals, zero hunger and good health and well-being. The program has been running for the past 3-years which shows that it is sustainable in the long-run.

References

Vanagas, R. & Stankevic, J., 2014. Impact of coordination for organization process. Intellectual Economics, vol. 8(20), pp. 112-125.

Van der Have P, R. & Rubalcaba, L., 2016. Social innovation research: An emerging area of innovation studies? Research Policy, vol. 45(9), pp. 1923-1935.