CIS 110: Composition and Communication – Fall 2015
Informative Speech Outline
Name: Melanie Palmer
Topic: The Prevalence of Food
Insecurity
Introduction
I.
Attention Getter: How long is it after a meal that you find yourself wanting something
else to eat? One hour after your meal? Two hours? Are you able to find something to eat when
you feel hunger pains or when you are just desiring food?
II.
Listener Relevance Statement/Link: You are blessed if you are able to easily access a
plentiful amount of food. While food insecurity has reduced substantially in many countries there
are still over 800 million people who experience food insecurity. These people can be sitting
right next to you, but most are in developing countries.
III.
Thesis Statement & Main Point Preview: I want to inform you of the prevalence of food
insecurity in the world by defining what food insecurity is, where food insecurity is prevalent
around the world, and lastly what is currently being done to reduce food insecurity.
IV.
Speaker Credibility: This topic is important to me because I lived in Kosova for 2 years
where I witnessed people living in poverty in the rural areas.
Body
I.
First Main Point: According to the World Food Summit, food security “… exists when
all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and
nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and
healthy life.”
A. Sub-point: This definition acts as the foundation that makes up the four parts to how
to reduce food insecurity.
Food is available when people can buy, trade, or produce the food.
Food is accessible when people have the capability of getting to the food.
Food is utilized by the people not only when food waste is low but when energy
intake as well as nutrient uptake are adequate.
Food is kept stable on a daily basis to ensure that food insecurity will not arise.
When these four parts are all being met that means there is food security, but
when even one of these parts is not being met this results in food insecurity (FAO,
2008).
B. Sub-point: Food insecurity has been defined in two different ways which differ in
how long the population or person has been food insecure (FAO, 2008).
a. According to FAO, Chronic Food Insecurity is long term or persistent and
“occurs when people are unable to meet their minimum food requirements
over a sustained period of time.” This type of food insecurity can be overcome
“with typical long term development measures such as education or access to
productive resources (FAO, 2008).”
b. The second type of food insecurity is transitory and FAO defines it as short
and temporary, occurring when “there is a sudden drop in the ability to
produce or access enough food to maintain a good nutritional status.”
CIS 110: Composition and Communication – Fall 2015
Transitory food insecurity can be difficult to overcome because it is
unpredictable (FAO, 2008).
Transition (can be word or phrase) that leads into next point: Furthermore
II.
Second Main Point: The most prevalent vulnerable populations worldwide include
pregnant women, female headed households, children, and small holders.
A. Sub-point:
Women, especially when pregnant, do not receive most or any of the benefits that
men do in most food insecure countries, such as owning a plot of land.
This leads to their children being at risk of food insecurity because the women are
less able to provide for them. Children are also more susceptible to diseases.
Small holders are not as prosperous because most are renting the land they are
caring for so they do not get all of the food they harvest. (Rainer Gross, Hans
Schoeneberger, Hans Pfeifer, Hans-Joachim A. Preuss, 2000) (Geleta, B., Ameri, G.,
Amdemariam, K., Fan, S., Stein, A., Olofinbiyi, T., 2012).
B. Sub-point: Where are these vulnerable populations across the world and throughout
the United States?
a. As seen on this map, food insecurity is most prevalent in the middle of Africa
and the countries of India and Haiti. It has been estimated by World Hunger
Education Service that 161 million children were stunted in growth in 2013
(World Hunger Education Service, 2015). According to the World Food
Programme, “if women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the
number of hungry people in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million.”
b. Moving on to the United States, food insecurity is most prevalent in the south
where there are also high obesity rates. Food insecurity relates to high obesity
rates because the food that vulnerable people do have access to is very low
quality, processed, and cheap. Kentucky is shown near the food insecurity
average and they are the 18th most food insecure state. (America’s Health
Rankings, 2015).
Transition (can be a word or phrase) that leads into next point: Lastly,
Third Main Point: Organizations such as food banks in America and Zero Hunger Challenge
headed by the UN have to look at the four parts of achieving food security and what type of food
insecurity the population is experiencing. Then they will be able to provide the vulnerable
population with the best tools and strategies.
A. Sub-point: Food banks are a way to help chronic food insecurity because they plant
themselves in one spot and stay there to provide stability for the vulnerable
community. In Lexington, for example, we have God’s Pantry Food Bank which
meets all of the four dimensions. It provides a steady supply of nonperishable food
items for vulnerable populations to come and utilize. Because food banks and pantries
purposefully locate themselves in various places of high food insecurity, food is
highly accessible to those vulnerable populations.
B. Sub-point: Because Zero Hunger Challenge looks at other aspects on how to improve
the lives of vulnerable populations, such as poverty, education, and availability of
clean water, it is an example of helping chronic food insecurity. The goals of Zero
Hunger Challenge meet every single one of the four dimensions. Their second goal
“100% access to adequate food all year round” meets the accessibility and availability
point since they say food will be accessible all year round. The last goal “Zero loss or
waste of food” meets the utilization point because no waste ensures that the food is
CIS 110: Composition and Communication – Fall 2015
being used to meet the nutritional needs of vulnerable people by being consumed.
Finally, the third goal “All food systems are sustainable” meets the stability point
ensuring that the food systems will last a long time in maintaining food availability,
access, and utilization (Zero Hunger Challenge, 2015).
Transition (can be a word or phrase) that leads into next point: In conclusion,
Conclusion
I.
Restatement of Thesis&Summary of Main Points:
This speech was meant to inform you of the prevalence of food insecurity in the world by
defining what food insecurity is, where food insecurity is prevalent around the world, and
lastly what is currently being done to reduce food insecurity.
III
Clincher: As actress and model Penelope Cruz says, “We need to stop the dying and start
the living; stop the hunger and start the hoping.”
CIS 110: Composition and Communication – Fall 2015
References
America’s Health Rankings (2015). Food Insecurity, Kentucky, Rank 32. Retrieved from
http://www.americashealthrankings.org/KY/food_insecurity_sr
FAO. (2008) Introduction to the Basic Concepts of Food Security. Retrieved from
http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/al936e/al936e00.pdf
Geleta, B., Ameri, G., Amdemariam, K., Fan, S., Stein, A., Olofinbiyi, T. (2012, May). Reducing
the Risk of Food and Nutrition Security among Vulnerable Populations. Retrieved from
http://www.ifrc.org/PageFiles/95599/IFRC IFPRI Food insecurity brief .pdf
God’s Pantry Food Bank (2015). God’s Pantry Food Bank. Retrieved from
http://www.godspantry.org/
Gross, R., Schoeneberger, H., Pfeifer, Hans., Preuss, H. (2000). The Four Dimensions of Food
and Nutrition Security: Definitions and Concepts. Retrieved from
http://www.fao.org/elearning/course/fa/en/pdf/p-01_rg_concept.pdf
World Hunger Education Service. (2015) 2015 World Hunger and Poverty Facts. Retrieved from
http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm.
World Food Programme. (2015) Hunger Statistics. Retrieved from
https://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats.
Zero Hunger Challenge (2015) The Challenge: Hunger can be eliminated in our lifetimes.
Retrieved from http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/