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Ways to help food insecurity essay
Ways to help food insecurity essay
Solutions to food insecurity in the united states
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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, increase in housing costs, unemployment, and inflation of the cost of food. These factors have caused food banks to see a change in the groups of people needing assistance. Doug O’Brien, director of public policy and research at Chicago-based Second Harvest says “’we’ve seen a real shift in who we serve. A decade ago, it was almost always homeless, single men and chronic substance abusers. Now we have children and working families at soup kitchens’” (Koch). These families that are feeling the effects of food insecurity will not be only ones affected by it, but all of America. Studies have shown that there is a link between food security, performance in the classroom, and obesity. If this issue is not faced head on, America will have a generation of children not fully prepared for the workforce and high health insurance rates due to obesity health issues. In providing help to people who find themselves in food insecure households, people can be found who are skeptic of their true need. One of biggest myths of the disadvantaged is that they have poor shopping habits or shop in convenience stores where prices are extremely higher than compared to those in grocery stores. Another ... ... middle of paper ... ...ies and nonprofits to expand and improve participation in federal nutrition programs and make sure all families have convenient access to reasonably priced, healthy food. The FRAC believes that even during the recession the United States could have ended hunger, however it is not practical to do so if the nation’s economy does not regain strength and starts to grow again. To provide people with jobs that have good wages and benefits to support families would need fiscal and monetary policies that restore and sustain growth Works Cited Weeks, Jennifer. “Farm Policy.” CQ Researcher 10 Aug. 2012: 693-716. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. “Economy.” CQ Researcher 15 June 2013. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. Katel, Peter. “Child Poverty.” CQ Researcher 28 Oct. 2011: 901-28. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. Katel, Peter. “Straining the Safety Net.” CQ Researcher 31 July 2009: 645-68. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Hunger is in America, the world’s wealthiest nation. 14.5 percent of U.S. households—nearly 49 million Americans, including 15.9 million children— struggle every day to put food on the table. In the United States, hunger is not caused by a scarcity of food, but rather the continued prevalence of poverty. We as a nation must come together to confront hunger and poverty in the United States. Therefore let no man object to my plan by proposing to provide Good Jobs for many Americans, the U.S. labor market no longer works as a reliable way to build a stable career and support their families, Work Support Programs that help to expand access to affordable health care and child care, and strengthen tax credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, which help working families, and Child Nutrition Programs which are critical to ending childhood hunger. When children receive the nutrition they need, they are more likely to move out of poverty as adults. (Bread for the World)
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...
According to the “Hunger and Poverty Fact Sheet” on Feeding America’s website, in 2014 there were over 48 million Americans living in food insecure households, which included 32 million adults and 15 million children. For over 35 years, Feeding America continues to be in the forefront in solving this crisis by providing food to people in need through a nationwide network of food banks. In the late 1960s, Van Hengel established the nation’s first food bank and years later established the first national organization of food banks, Second Harvest. Second Harvest was later called America’s Second Harvest the Nation’s Food Bank Network and in 2008, the national organization changed its name to Feeding America.
In Janet Poppendieck's “Want Amid Plenty: From Hunger To Inequality” she argues that America puts excessive focus upon hunger issues among the poor when there are many other important issues that go unnoticed. Poppendieck believes that it is time to find a way to shift the discourse from undernutrition to unfairness, from hunger to inequality. In today's society, there are many food banks, food drives, soup kitchens, etc. Food is extremely abundant in America, therefore Poppendieck's statement is proven true when she states that there is too much focus on hunger. Throughout this text, she strongly supports her claims about hunger, equality, and poverty in general.
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
There are several programs in the Muncie area that assist those who are dealing with food insecurity. Some of these programs are: Indiana school breakfast and lunch program, Second Harvest Food bank and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program. These three programs help those who suffer from food insecurity but do so in different ways.
It is hard to believe that more than 49 million Americans don’t get enough to eat when there is data proving that we are producing more food than need it and at least half is going to waste. The lack of consistent access to enough
Walsh, Bryan. “America’s Food Crisis and How to Fix It.” Time, Vol. 174, Is. 8, p. 30-37. 31
In the year 2015, around 40 million U.S. citizens were food insecure (Randall para. 3). Food insecurity can be defined in paragraph 3 by “[having] difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources. This 12.7% of American citizens also contains another group - children. Aged 10-17, 6.8 million adolescents struggle with a food insecurity. There have been several years of cuts to the social programs designed to help these people, along with the Great Recession continuing to leave an impact on the U.S. economy (para. 6). Under the Obama administration, $8.6 billion was cut from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as Food Stamps. From 1993-2001 under the Clinton administration, former President Bill Clinton’s administration “gutted the welfare system” (para. 15). Because of these budget cuts, the families who rely on food assistance from the government have been allotted less throughout the years. From a sociological perspective, the concepts of sociological imagination, class stratification, and social location are in effect when it comes to child hunger in the United States. Being hungry is an issue larger than any one individual can control.
“Rising Poverty, Widespread Unemployment: America’s Economic Pain Brings Hunger Pangs.” Global Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2013.< http://www.globalreasearch.ca/rising-poverty-widespread-unemployment-america-s-economic-plan-brings-hunger-pangs>.
During the 1930’s, the United States’ population was suffering through the Great Depression with hunger being its most severe consequence. Hunger in the United States became a national issue since more than 8 million people were unemployed by the spring of 1931 (book citation). Furthermore, families were With the “paradox of want in the midst of plenty”
In order to determine the prevalence of households that are food insecure, “The Food Security Supplement is administered annually to about 45,000 households as part of the monthly, nationally representative Current Population Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The supplement has been conducted annually since 1995.” (Health Indicators Warehouse, 2013). The survey was developed by the USDA in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control, and asks participants questions about their confiden...
There are many policy issues that affect families in today’s society. Hunger is a hidden epidemic and one major issue that American’s still face. It is hard to believe that in this vast, ever growing country, families are still starving. As stated in the book Growing Up Empty, hunger is running wild through urban, rural, and even suburban communities. This paper will explore the differing perspectives of the concerned camp, sanguine camp, and impatient camp. In addition, each camps view, policy agenda, and values that underlie their argument on hunger will be discussed.
According to Dolgoff and Feldstein (2003), “the needs and goals of the Food Stamp Program are to alleviate hunger and malnutrition by enabling low-income households to buy a nutritious adequate diet” (p. 132). The program also improved the market for local merchants to produce food for eligible low-income households and other agencies such as the School Lunch Program which safeguard the health and wel...
Research proves that low-income families will shop wherever the food prices are lower, and generally cannot afford to pay for healthful foods. In comparison to the residents of higher income communities, low-income households normally have diets that are higher in meat and processed foods and often have low intakes of fruits and vegetables. Research suggests that people with low socioeconomic status spend up to 37% more on food. This is because of smaller weekly food budgets in addition to poorly stocked stores. Those with lower income are more likely to spend money on inexpensive fats and sugars versus fresh fruits and vegetables that are more costly on a per calorie basis. Healthy foods like whole grain products are more expensive than high calorie junk foods.