In the United States of America, we would like to believe that every U.S. citizen has access to nutritious foods. This is not true. Despite America is being the world’s wealthiest nation, poverty is forcing many Americans to hunger, and many families struggle to put food on the table. Our modern food system makes it increasingly difficult for those with low incomes to obtain adequate nutrition, even with having access to adequate amounts of food. A critical component to a healthy life is nutrition. Many people are going hungry each day despite a huge surplus of food production, while many suffer from obesity. There is the obvious sort of hunger resulting from an empty stomach, and then there is also the other hunger of micro-nutrient deficiencies which make people susceptible to infectious diseases, impair physical and mental development, reduce their labor productivity and increase the risk of premature death. One can be obese and still suffer from a lack of nutrition, related to food insecurity and hunger. Food insecurity refers to the food’s availability and an …show more content…
Healthy alternatives can be found at a low cost, but not always available in certain areas. Supermarkets and super centers provide the most reliable access to nutritious and affordable produce, and their presence is an important indicator of a community's physical health and economic vitality. Bringing grocery stores to low-income areas creates a healthier food environment that supports making healthier choices. Having easy access to grocery stores or other food markets that sell fruits, vegetables, produce, and other staples at affordable prices is necessary to obtain food security. Yet, not all areas have access to these markets and centers. Even as progress is being made to improve access in urban neighborhoods and rural communities, millions of obese Americans are still struggling to put healthy food on the
Many in the U.S., today, try to eat well,balanced, meals to order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. They do so by purchasing their food at farmers markets or making their own meals, so their food isn’t processed or genetically modified. Even though people are trying to maintain health in order to live long lives, without medical complications, many don’t have the opportunity to pursue life like this. In “Research shows food deserts more abundant in minority neighborhoods,” the author, Kelly Brooks, portrays an anecdote and logical reasoning, from Kelly Bower’s research, to thoroughly describe the food deserts in poor minority neighborhoods and how this issue needs to be repaired.
Food insecurity is one of the major social problems that we have in our world today. The concern about this problem is the increasing number of people that are beginning to experience hunger more often. “While hunger has long been a public health concern in developing countries, it has received varying degrees of attention in the United States, most notable during the 1930s and 1960s” (Poppendieck 1992). In addition to lack of food, there are consequences that follow. People, especially children, who suffer from food deprivation also undergo some health issues such as malnutrition and obesity, which leads to more health care and hospitalizations. “In the early 1980s, most reports of hunger involved families with children, the elderly, the unskilled and unemployed youth, the mentally ill, the homeless and minorities” (Brown 1992; Nestle and Guttmacher 1992). However, a particular ethnic group that is greatly affected by food insecurities are the Hispanic...
An important issue for Today is how can we make people pick the best nutritional option because giving the poor easy access to healthy food doesn’t mean they’ll buy It. For example, “In 2010, the Morrisania section of the Bronx
The United States is one of the richest nations in the world and food is plentiful; fifty million people should not experience food insecurity. The problem is that people who live in poverty do not have access to enough food. Policies governing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program need to be changed. The policies cannot be relaxed to the extent that everyone tries to get assistance, but they should be reasonable enough for a family provider to qualify for food stamps and hold a job which pays him enough to sustain a family. Legislators need to look at increase funding for programs like the National School Lunch Program in a manner in which NSLP does not have to compete with funding for budget items that have major lobbyists’ support. Funds to feed hungry children should not be a political budget item. The allocation of subsidies to farmers should also be revisited. Eighty-four percent of subsidies goes to commodity crops and only one percent goes to growers of fruits and vegetables. Even if they had the money to buy food, people living in poverty could not buy the healthier fruits and vegetables; they are too expensive. “If you only have a few dollars to eat, in other words, processed foods will fill you up far cheaper than fruits and vegetables,” (Horn par.12). The unhealthy diets are
Eating nutritious food may seem simple enough, but to those that hardly get by financially, affording healthy foods can be a major hindrance. This is proven by Dr. Jim Levine, a researcher with a concentration of the link between poverty and obesity. He is quoted stating, “In many poverty-dense regions, people are… unable to access affordable healthy food, even when funds avail.” (Sifferlin 1) For example, further studies show that the average cost of salad is $1.50 more than the average cost of a hamburger. Getting vitamins and minerals from the food we eat is substantial to survive in everyday life. Annually, it costs five hundred and fifty dollars more to eat healthier. Five hundred and fifty dollars may not seem like much, but to those that have low income, it is a crucial amount. While achieving a healthy diet proves to be necessary to maintain a healthy weight, it is almost inaccessible for those with low income. Low-income individuals confront the barrier of the cost of healthier choices in their everyday
As noted by Wolfe, Frongillo, & Valois, (2003) hardships such as functional impairments, chronic health problems and money are major causes of food insecurity among the elderly. The US Department of Agriculture 's Continuing Survey of Food provided data on dietary intakes and behaviors were obtained from the elderly. There data showed that that lower-income elderly consume significantly fewer calories than higher-income elderly, fewer servings of major Food Guide Pyramid food groups, and most nutrients. Additionally, 6% of elderly households report some degree of food insecurity. Interventions have been established to reduce rates of food insecurity among the elderly. This paper will highlight several interventions that have played a significant role in strengthening access to nutrition among the elderly. More importantly, how interventions have been created at the individual, interpersonal, community and societal
The United States Department of Agriculture defines food unsecurity as the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food, or the ability to acquire such food, is limited or uncertain for a household. Food insecurity also does not always mean that the household has nothing to eat. More simply stated it is the struggle to provide nutritional food for ones family and/or self. The people that suffer from food insecurity are not all living below the poverty line. In 2012 49.0 million people were considered food insecure in the United States of those 46.5 million were in poverty (Hunger & Poverty Statistics, 2012). For some individual’s food insecurity is only a temporary situation for others it maybe for extended period. Food insecurity due temporary situation such as unemployment, divorce, major medical or illness can be become more long term. The vast majority of these are families with children.
President Obama once said, “As the wealthiest nation on Earth, I believe the United States has a moral obligation to lead the fight against hunger and malnutrition, and to partner with others.” Food insecurity has always been an issue of the public as well as around the world. For so long, many generations of Americans have been living in poverty or in a low income state. It would be surprise as to how many Americans are living in poverty. As a result of this living situation, there are problems that arise with it. One of the problems is food insecurity. Food insecurity can be simply explained as not having access to affordable and quality food. This problem can lead to serious
Powell, L.M., Slater, S., Mirtcheva, D., Bao, Y., & Chaloupka, F.J. (2007). Food store availability and neighborhood characteristics in the United States. Preventive Medicine, 44, 189-195.
Food insecurity is an issue faced by millions of Americans every day, and the biggest group affected by this is working families with children. Food insecurity is so big that the United States government has now recognized it and provided a definition for it. The United States government has defined food insecurity as “a household level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food” (USDA.gov). Food banks and anti-hunger advocates agree that some of the causes of food insecurity are stagnant wages, increases in housing costs, unemployment, and inflation in the cost of food. These factors have caused food banks to see a change in the groups of people needing assistance.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has been very beneficial to many households that do not know where their next meal is coming from by providing them with resources to acquire food. Many of those food insecure households, however, are faced with high rates of obesity that leads to a variety of other health issues. Research has shown that increasing nutritional education through programs that teach people to read labels and balance their diet works and can decrease obesity rates. Low income and minority households, the populations most affected by the issues of food insecurity and obesity, are especially in need of nutritional education. By expanding nutritional education for those households most at risk of obesity, a public health initiative could decrease the obesity levels in SNAP participants.
Farm and Food Policy Project. (2007, March). Making healthy food more accessible for low‐income people. Retrieved from Farm and Food Policy Project: http://www.farmandfoodproject.org/
Adults who are food-insecure have greater chances of malnutrition, mental health problems, long-term physical health problems, depression, diabetes, chronic disease, and lower scores on physical and mental health exams (Gundersen, Kreider, and Pepper). Seniors who are food-insecure have greater chances of malnutrition, poor health, and limitations in activities (Gundersen, Kreider, and Pepper). Food insecurity is closely connected with obesity since obesity is the most common health problem resulting from food insecurity All Americans have the risk of having obesity, however, people who live in food-insecure households have greater risk of having obesity. There are many reasons why people in food-insecure households have greater risk for obesity, including inability to afford healthy food, less opportunities for physical activity, and greater chances of exposure to fast food restaurants and food-related marketing (O’Connor). In addition, people who are food-insecure tend to overeat when food becomes available, which results in unbalanced diets that cause weight gain (O’Connor).
Food insecurity defined, is ‘the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food’ (Oxforddictionaries.com, 2014). This in turn leads to hunger, which can have three possible meanings; 1) ‘the uneasy or painful sensation caused by want of food; craving appetite, also the exhausted condition caused by want of food’, 2) ‘the want or scarcity of food in a country’, and 3) ‘a strong desire or craving’ (Worldhunger.org, 2014). Food insecurity also leads to malnutrition, with 870 million people in the world or one in eight, suffering from chronic undernourishment (Fao.org, 2014). From this alarmingly high figure, 852 million of these people live in developing countries, making it evident that majority of strategies used to solve this problem should be directed at them (Fao.org, 2014). The world produces enough food to feed everyone, with an estimated amount of 2,720 Kcal per person a day (Worldhunger.org, 2014). The only problem is distri...
Healthy and affordable food choices on the go or even just in the store is a huge and worldwide ongoing problem that of course cannot be fixed overnight. To help start and put one foot forward to improvements in the availability of healthy food options and choices in lower income neighborhoods, we as a community and as a whole should do the following. Many different methods could be tried to help solve the problem. This is simply because one method may not work as well as the other. As Denis Waitley says “Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker”.