Student team-based food insecurity challenge pitch-off will take place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Memorial Union’s Great Hall, with the winning team being awarded $5,000.
The Food Insecurity Challenge started Nov. 6 with a “Hunger Banquet” and remarks from Smaranda Andrews, a professor of food science and human nutrition, who shed light on issues like local food poverty and global hunger.
According to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Hunger Banquet takes place to show food inequalities, with students drawing low, middle or high income cards and getting a corresponding meal with the card. Meal options and quantities are deliberately designed to be unequal to highlight inequalities.
Judi Eyles, the director of the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, told the Daily in previous reporting the challenge began with a conversation between deans in the College of Agriculture and Business thinking about what students can do in regards to food insecurity.
“We’re all aware of global food insecurity, but bringing that awareness here in Iowa, and here at Iowa State in particular, is very eye-opening for the people that participate, and most students we meet really want to make an impact, and so it’s a really challenging challenge, but very impactful,” Eyles said.
Eyles said they did not know if students would show up the first year, but they ended up having to close registrations due to high participation.
Students have been tasked with creating a four-minute presentation, accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation that addresses the problem, explanation of a solution, market demographic, timeline for implementation and resources needed.
The three winning teams will be awarded a cash prize of $5,000 (first place), $2,500 (second place) and $1,500 (third place).
According to Student Government’s Food Insecurity Task Force, as many as one in three Iowa State students face some form of insecurity. Resources for food insecurity can be found here.
The challenge is hosted by the Ivy College of Business, College of Agriculture and the Pappajohn Center.
