Sister Emily TeKolste discusses food insecurity

Recently, Sister Emily TeKolste, SP, took part in a panel discussion at the Indiana State University (ISU) Cunningham Memorial Library regarding food insecurity.

She was joined by former ISU professor of economics, Donald Richards, and Vigo County School Corporation food service director, Tom Lentes.

Prior to the panel discussion, Sister Emily offered more in-depth dialogue on the topic.

An Issue of Poverty

“Food insecurity is not an issue of food but of poverty,” she said. “There is more than enough food to feed everyone, but not everyone has access to the food they need to survive.

“Poverty is a policy choice and federal policies have been making most of us poor – while the wealthiest in our nation continue to amass wealth – since about the 1970s. And it keeps getting worse.”

Sister Emily said earlier this year, after Congress passed House Resolution 1, otherwise known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” and the President signed the bill into law, she and others were quick to notice some cuts in the fine print.

“(The bill) takes food away from our communities by cutting SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), taking health care away from our neighbors by kicking 17 million Americans off of their Medicaid health insurance, and blocking families from receiving the Child Tax Credit,” Sister Emily said. “It does this and still adds trillions of dollars to our national deficit because its primary purpose is as a tax giveaway to the wealthiest among us.”

During the most recent government shutdown, which is now determined as the longest shutdown in U.S. government history, the federal government initially refused to pay out SNAP benefits in full before a federal judge ruled they had to do so.

After 44 days, the government reopened and SNAP benefits were restored. However, many people across the nation were feeling the repercussions of the shutdown.

Basic Human Rights

“Five-thousand five hundred households in Vigo County along rely on SNAP benefits to stave off food insecurity,” Sister Emily pointed out. “And our world is quickly approaching our first trillionaire … Nobody needs that kind of money. Catholic teaching has long held that the goods of the earth are meant to be shared and that hoarding that kind of wealth is a sin.”

According to Sister Emily, Catholic Social Teaching also states that food and health care are basic human rights.

“After all, feeding and healing people was a huge part of Jesus’ ministry,” she lamented.

Sister Emily noted that in the past, the federal government has come together for the common good, giving reason to believe it can do so again.

Working to Achieve Equity and Justice

“We know it doesn’t have to be this way,” she said. “In 2021, we came together to pass the American Rescue Plan Act. Among the key components was an expanded Child Tax Credit. This singular policy change cut child poverty in half.

“Families were able to pay bills, pay their rent, pay for food. I even heard a story of one family taking a vacation for the first time ever – camping in a borrowed tent at a nearby park. What a beautiful opportunity for young children who have known so much poverty and trauma.”

Sister Emily said in her ministry, where she serves as a grassroots advocate for justice for NETWORK, she and others continue to engage with government to address this and other issues impacting the ordinary lives of Americans. NETWORK, founded in 1972 by Catholic Sisters, works to achieve equity and justice for all people.

“We (The Sisters of Providence) also engage in direct service work through organizations like the Providence Food Pantry, which serves approximately 20 percent of Vigo County, and Providence Housing and St. Mary’s Senior Living, where our neighbors can find affordable housing.

“All these issues are connected – because every dollar someone is forced to spend on unaffordable housing is a dollar less they can spend on food.”