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Food security essay INTRODUCTION
Food security essay INTRODUCTION
Food security research essay
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By 1840, potatoes were a diet staple for the people who lived across seas in Ireland. Potatoes were basically the only food that the rural poor population consumed for all of their meals. However, the potato was also a staple in the diets of the middle class and upper class citizens even though they could afford more expensive foods. In 1845, the population of Ireland expected to have a favorable potato crop. However, when the farmers dug up the expected crop that year, they were faced with a black, liquid mess. This lead to a 50% loss in potatoes and each family had to fend for themselves and harvest however many potatoes they needed. The potato crops increasingly worsened from 1845 to 1847. Three years of bad potato crops devastated the country of Ireland in more ways than one. What we know it as today as the Irish Potato Famine caused many health and economic problems for the citizens of Ireland. Between 1846 and 1850, Ireland’s population dramatically decreased by two million people. Out of these two million people, around one million died of starvation and diseases associated with the famine. The other million migrated to other parts of the world, in hopes to give their family a better life. Though extreme, this famine is one of the most famous examples of food insecurity in the world. After events like this, it is apparent that all countries, including the United States, should take food security very seriously.
As defined by the World Health Organization, food security is defined as “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.” This concept of food security also includes both physical and economic access to food that satisfies the dietary needs and ...
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...trition as a young child can affect how the brain develops and responds to situations. Malnutrition can cause structural deficiencies in the brain that can hinder a child’s learning ability. This can cause problems with cognitive development and also social development. Another developmental issue that can occur because of malnutrition is mental retardation. Continuous malnutrition can limit brain growth and ultimately result in abnormal levels of cognitive and mental functioning. Mental retardation can cause slow motor skills and trouble mastering daily tasks, creating a slew of problems in a young child’s life. When a malnourished child becomes an adult, they are more likely to develop cognitive impairments like alzheimer’s.
After discussing these conditions, it is clear that food insecurity can cause numerous problems in the lives of both children and adults.
The Irish began immigrating to North America in the 1820s, when the lack of jobs and poverty forced them to seek better opportunities elsewhere after the end of the major European wars. When the Europeans could finally stop depending on the Irish for food during war, the investment in Irish agricultural products reduced and the boom was over. After an economic boom, there comes a bust and unemployment was the result. Two-thirds of the people of Ireland depended on potato harvests as a main source of income and, more importantly, food. Then between the years of 1845 and 1847, a terrible disease struck the potato crops. The plague left acre after acre of Irish farmland covered with black rot. The failure of the potato yields caused the prices of food to rise rapidly. With no income coming from potato harvests, families dependent on potato crops could not afford to pay rent to their dominantly British and Protestant landlords and were evicted only to be crowded into disease-infested workhouses. Peasants who were desperate for food found themselves eating the rotten potatoes only to develop and spread horrible diseases. ¡§Entire villages were quickly homeless, starving, and diagnosed with either cholera or typhus.¡¨(Interpreting¡K,online) The lack of food and increased incidents of death forced incredible numbers of people to leave Ireland for some place which offered more suitable living conditions. Some landlords paid for the emigration of their tenants because it made more economic sense to rid farms of residents who were not paying their rent. Nevertheless, emigration did not prove to be an antidote for the Famine. The ships were overcrowded and by the time they reached their destination, approximately one third of its passengers had been lost to disease, hunger and other complications. However, many passengers did survive the journey and, as a result, approximately ¡§1.5 million Irish people immigrated to North America during the 1840¡¦s and 1850¡¦s.¡¨(Bladley, online) As a consequence of famine, disease (starvation and disease took as many as one million lives) and emigration, ¡§Ireland¡¦s population dropped from 8 million to 5 million over a matter of years.¡¨(Bladley, online) Although Britain came to the aid of the starving, many Irish blamed Britain for their delayed response and for centuries of political hardship as basi...
Looking for a better life away from death, oppression, and destruction the Irish headed to America by the thousands in the 1840’s. Ireland’s staple food was the potato, it was the main means of subsistence for the poor. Then in the 1840’s cataclysm struck, the potato blight caused famine, disease, death and despair. Close to a million deaths were blamed on the potato blight in Ireland. The potato blight was caused by a disease that rendered the potatoes inedible. It lasted for several years, from 1845-1849 the country suffered great hardships, sickness, and death. The blight was the final straw to push many immigrants out of Ireland and to America looking for a chance of survival (Marger, 2015, pg. 284)
There are several circumstances to take into consideration when looking at the causes of the Great Potato Famine in Ireland. Due to the great dependence the Irish people had on the potato, it is clear how blight could devastate a country and its people. To understand the Irish people's dependence on the potato for diet, income, and a way out of poverty, it is necessary to look at several key factors that were evident before the famine. Factors such farming as the only way of life, rise in population, and limited crops explain why the people of Ireland relied on the potato. But not only do these reasons clarify why the famine hit the Irish people so hard, other important factors play into effect as well. By looking at the weak relationship between England and Ireland through parliamentary acts and trade laws, it is more evident what the causes of the Great Famine are and why it was so detrimental.
Many Irish peasants were forced to deal with the hardship of the Irish potato famine from about 1845-1850. Said famine wiped out roughly the entire potato crop in Ireland, thus causing much of the Irish population to decrease by about one quarter. The English who did little to help despite their leadership position indirectly fueled the famine. Prior conflicts between the Irish Catholics, and British Protestants continued to make matters worse, until the end of the famine in about 1850. During 1845, the Irish people were plagued by a fungal epidemic in their potato crop. Due to the past cultural conflicts the British government took no action, and this eventually led to the emigration and death of hundreds of Irish Catholics.
The potato famine in Ireland from 1845-1852 sent thousands of poor farmers to America in hope of finding jobs. The Irish were overly dependent on the potato for a means of income, so when it faltered, so did their source of income. In America, the Irish worked in factories with
...sh potato famine lasted for several years, resulting a reduction of land holdings for small farmers and nearly a million Irish dead. Those farmers who survived the Phytophthora Infestins were able to buy land back from the land lords under the Encumbered Act of 1849 (Johnston). A non-violent peasant revolution occurred as the number of farms over 15 acres increased from 19 percent from 1841 to 51 percent in 1851 (Johnston).
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.
Britain played a huge role in the potato famine, not so much in finding a cure for the potatoes but trying to help the Irish from starvation. Some people have argued that the British deliberately let the Irish starve to death, but others argue that they were unaware of the situation at hand. After the Napoleonic War ended Britain set “corn laws” to keep agriculture a healthy business. These laws set high tariffs on imported foods. (Stork) These laws were good and bad for Ireland, because they were able to sell their crops for a good amount of money, but it distracted them from the industrial side of things that would’ve given jobs to the poor during the famine. (Stork) Once Sir Robert Peel received the information about the hunger, he sent 100,000 pounds of Indian Corn to America, which was cheap enough to not effect Britain’s economy, but fed the Irish. The problem never was supply as much as demand, because most Irish had no corn to sell which left them with no money to buy the corn or other food imported. Once Prime minister Lord John Russell was elected, who was a conservative who believed that things should be left and nature will do its thing. He immediately stopped the importing of cheap corn and other grains (the only thing most Irish could afford) which left many families with no food...
...brain and malnutrition. Therefore, one’s diet is not only crucial for the physical well being but also their mental.
Nutrition is the process of consuming food and utilizing the nutrients from the food eaten (“Nutrition.”). It is very important to have enough nutrition for a growing teenager as it helps to develop and strengthen the bones along with growth and development (“Adolescent and School Health.”). Nutrition is very vital for the growing body as it helps prevent certain diseases and helps give the proper development and nourishment (HAGIKALFA). There are multiple nutrients that help maintain development and nutrition such as carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water. If there was a lack of nutrition in a growing teenager, the teenager will not be able to have enough nutrition to grow and they will be more prone to sickness and diseases (“Hunger and Malnutrition.”). A malnourished teenager will may end up having muscle weakness, fatigue, dizziness, fragile bones, tooth decay, and much more (“Hunger and Malnutrition.”).
In Ireland, at the time, there was only one strain of potatoes being grown. At the time, citizens of Ireland were mainly eating potatoes and drinking milk. These two menu items provided them with all the necessary nutrients required for a healthy diet(History Magazine). The Irish were only growing one strain of potatoes at the time. When a fungus came through Ireland that only affected that strain of potatoes, it wiped out the entire potato population in Ireland, causing a famine to occur. This famine killed one million people and caused two million to move out of Ireland in a quest to find food. Potatoes killed one million people, or should I say the lack of potatoes killed one million people. This famine became one of the deadliest famines in history. After the potatoes were wiped out, the Irish started growing more than one strain of potatoes in order to ensure that another famine similar to the Irish Potato Famine of 1845 could not happen again. The Irish Potato Famine led to the Industrial Revolution(Ted Talks). When 2 million people were forced out of Ireland while the famine was going on, they moved to European countries. This boost in population aided the Industrial Revolution because now there were enough people to sustain the positions needed to run factories. We do not know where the world would be if the famine had not happened, but it definitely would not be in the same place it is
== = Malnutrition is a dietary condition caused by a deficiency or excess of one or more essential nutrients in the diet. Malnutrition is characterised by a wide array of health problems, including extreme weight loss, stunted growth, weakened resistance to infection, and impairment of intellect. Severe cases of malnutrition can lead to death.
These include diseases such as rickets which is caused by a lack of vitamin D. A lack of calcium leads to poor growth in children. At this tender life stage this is a very negative thing because children are still at the peak of their physical development. The malnutrition could have caused stunting which is because the malnutrition hinders growth in their height and weight. Sometimes stunted growth can be permanent and a child may never be able to return to a normal height or weight.
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...
“Malnourished children are 20% less literate than those with a healthier diet, says UK charity Save the Children” (The Information Daily). When parents become victims of poverty it can have some very unpleasing long and short term effects to their children. Parents in poverty have a lot on their plate and buying the best quality food or affording enough food can be a tumultuous task. Quality nutrition is essential for the development of the brain. At a young age, poor nutrition or not enough nutrition can seriously hinder “the brain 's development, a child’s ability to learn and has a devastating impact on a child’s future”(The Information Daily). “Malnutrition in the early developmental stages of the brain, by restricting the children’s cognitive growth, can lower a child 's IQ has much has 20 points”(The Information Daily). Long term effects of malnutrition leave permanent damage to the brain, however, malnutrition has short term effects as well. Malnourishment can greatly compromise a child’s immune system, making them more susceptible to infectious diseases. “Low counts of zinc, iron and vitamin A are commonly associated with weakened immune function” (Orphan Nutrition). A deadly infection can have a huge impact on a poverty stricken family leading to less affordability. Malnutrition negatively affects a student throughout their educational