Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Living in a food desert essay
Living in food deserts
Living in food deserts
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The main point of this project was to teach us about what it is like for a person who may live in a food desert. I started by making my meal plan of what I would eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for two weeks. My choices of what I was to eat were based on what I usually eat as a college student on a limited budget. After making my meal plan I went to the online Lowes Foods grocery store to simulate my purchases. When finished I came to the conclusion that I could eat for under one hundred dollars for two weeks very easily. Although I could do this, I still would not be leading a very healthy lifestyle because I could choose healthier foods. My bill came to sixty-five dollars and sixty-eight cents. With this purchase I would still have roughly thirty dollars to buy healthy snacks such as fruits or granola bars.
Next I took my meal plan and ingredient list to the Circle K right beside campus. This is where my eyes were opened to what it would be like to be in a food desert and only have a convenient store to go to for grocery shopping. At first I was optimistic ab...
“Hungry for Change” is an eye opening documentary made to explore the role that food plays in peoples’ lives. The experts, ranging from authors to medical doctors, address a variety of claims through testimonials, experiments, and statistical evidence. They not only state the flaws in this generation’s diet but also logically explain the reasons behind the downfall in peoples’ diet and offer better ways to approach our health.
In the book published in 2006, the Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural history of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan, is a non-fiction book about American eating habits and the food dilemma that many Americans are facing today. Pollan begins the book by discussing the dilemma of the omnivore like ourselves, a creature with many choices of food. Pollan decides to learn the root to the food dilemma by examining the three primary food chains: industrial food chain, the organic food chain, and the hunter-gathering food chain. His journey begins by first exploring the industrialized food industry. Pollan examines the industry by following both corn and cow from the beginning through the industrialized process. The work on the corn fields of George Naylor shows him that the industrial system has made corn appears nearly in all products in the supermarket (Pollan 33-37). Pollen then decides to purchase a steer which allows him to see the industrialized monoculture of beef production and how mass production produces food to serve the society. Following his journey, Pollan and his family eat a meal at McDonald's restaurant. Pollan realizes that he and very few people actually understand how such a meal is created. By examining the different food paths available to modern man and by analyzing those paths, Pollan argues that there is a basic relation between nature and the human. The food choice and what we eat represents a connection with our natural world. The industrial food ruins that ecological connections. In fact, the modern agribusiness has lost touch with the natural cycles of farming. Pollan presents the book with a question in the beginning: "What should we have for dinner?" (Pollan 1) This question posed a combination of p...
A major issue that is occurring in America is a phenomena known as “food deserts”, most are located in urban areas and it's difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food. Whereas in the past, food deserts were thought to be solved with just placing a grocery store in the area, but with times it has become an issue that people are not picking the best nutritional option. This issue is not only making grocery store in food deserts are practically useless and not really eliminating the issue of food deserts because even when they are given a better nutritional option, and people are not taking it. In my perspective, it takes more than a grocery store to eliminate ‘food deserts’. It's more about demonstrating the good of picking the nutritional option and how it can help them and their families. For example, “Those who live in these areas are often subject to poor diets as a result and are at a greater risk of becoming obese or developing chronic diseases.”(Corapi, 2014).
“Food Deserts” are arears where people have a hard time finding affordable, healthy food. These places are usually low-income neighborhoods that do not have any supermarkets nearby but have convenience stores that sell junk food and fast food places around them. Ron Finley, a guerrilla gardener, lives in a “food desert” in South Central Los Angeles. He plants fruit and vegetable gardens to help nourish his community with healthy eating. In the article “Giving the Poor Easy Access to Healthy Food Doesn’t Mean They’ll Buy It,” Margot Sanger-Katz states that “merely adding a grocery store to a poor neighborhood doesn’t make a very big difference” because the diets of the residents living in those neighborhoods did not change. I think “food deserts” are only a part of the bigger problem in America because obesity is everywhere, not just in low-income
How often does one think about when his/her next meal will be? If you are the average American, the answer will most likely be “in a couple of hours”; however, there is a good chance that you might also be one of the fifty million Americans that would most likely answer “I don’t know… whenever I can afford it, I guess.” Roughly every one in six Americans would have some sort of response like the one presented because that is how many are considered food insecure. This is obviously one of the most important social problems afflicting America in modern times, but what can be done about it? A Place at the Table displays three scenarios: Barbie, a struggling mother of two; Rosie, a fifth grader living meal
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
Alviola IV, Rodolfo M. Nayga Jr., and Michael Thomsen to learn more about what food deserts and how they impact the society around them. I believed that this was a good source because it went into what food deserts are and how they might be connected to the increase of obesity. I learned that a food desert is an “area where access to healthy foods is limited or constrained” (Alviola 106). I also learned that studies have shown people who live in food deserts “are likely to pay higher prices for food and have limited options in terms of purchasing healthy foods” (Alviola 106). After reading this article I have realized that Xavier may also be in a food desert because the closest grocery store is Kroger whose produce is almost always non-fresh and does not look edible to eat which encourages people to leave and resort to eating fast food for every meal. Needing more information about the effects of Food Deserts I started to look at an article called, “The Effects of Food Deserts on the Weight Status of South Dakota Children”, written by Emily Niswanger, Elizabeth Droke, Suzanne Stluka, and Kuo-Liang Chang. I believed that this was a great next source to look into because the name of the article was exactly what I wanted to get more information about. The source was about one study that was made in the state of South Dakota to discover if food deserts do have an effect on
My Negative eating habits and recent medical troubles are what prompted me to choose a healthier diet as my behavior Change Projects. I recently went to the doctor and I was informed of my high triglyceride levels and I was put on medication. In addition, I am vitamin D and B deficient. After, visiting my doctor I knew I had to make a change in my life. In the Past year I have gained a little over ten pounds. So not only is this project helping me improve my diet, but has also given me a new incentive to lose those extra pounds.
When considering the topic of poverty and hunger, many Americans look outside the borders of the United States. However, food insecurity is an issue that plagues millions of American households each year. The United States Department of Agriculture found that 14.5% of American households faced food insecurity during 2012. These households were defined as having “difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources” (Nord, Singh, Coleman-Jensen).
Like all living things, humans require energy in order to perform basic bodily functions and to live out the events in their everyday life. We obtain this energy from the many different types of food that we eat, and it is necessary in or der to live out a healthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, food is one of the most expensive items we have to pay for throughout our life, and the prices of many foods are increasing—especially those that are most nutritious. With many job loss out in the world today some people might not even be able to find a well-paying job. As a result of this, many people in the lower class are struggling to provide the food necessary for not only themselves, but for their families as well. With low paying jobs that people have
American citizens economic standing plays a role in the what foods they buy, where they buy, and their accessibility to buy. According to the United States Department of Agriculture an estimated twenty-three and a half million people live in a “food desert”. which is an urban or rural community that has little to no access to fresh food distributors such as a supermarket or farmers market. A lot of times these communities only food options are convenience stores and fast food restaurants, such as McDonalds and 7-Eleven, that...
Many people here in America are hardworking and resourceful, but an insecure economy can have a long-lasting effect on a diverse group of people. One of the greatest manifestations of this is the inability to consistently afford a healthy diet. In a report by done by researchers in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, ‘in 2011, 14.9 percent or 17.9 million people in America were food insecure (Coleman-Jensen, Nordic, Andrews, & Carlson, 2012).’ Although many different organizations such as the “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” or the SNAP food stamp program has set out to eradicate hunger, by giving assistance to low income participants, to help them afford food, it does still exist in many different people’s lives, at one point or another. While many other underdeveloped countries have harder times with hunger, many of them, due to socioeconomic difficulties, hunger still causes many problems for different people in America.
Did you ever imagine that what goes into your body might depend on something other than your choice? Currently at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at the Daytona Beach campus, many types of campus issues exist. The mandatory meal plans for first-year students has become a very controversial issue. This controversy is caused by the mandatory purchase of at least 14 meals per week, amounting about $3,000. From my experience as a first-year student, I can say that I would save $1,000 an academic year eating the food and the quality I like if I was not required to buy meal plans. In this essay, I will argue that mandatory meal plans do not benefit first year students because of the cost, nutritional value, and dietary restrictions.
Keeping track of what I ate for three days forced me to be held accountable. Few people realize just what they eat on a daily basis. Seeing the food log and the analysis helped me have a better understanding of what I put into my body and what my body needs on a daily basis as far as energy and nutrients. The analysis gave a summary for calories, food groups, and nutrients, both macro and micronutrients.
A typical first-year college student, as described from research at OSU, often skip meals and lacks the recommended amount of fruit and vegetable intake ("News and Research Communications," 2011). Often students are too busy with their schoolwork to sit down and have a proper meal, and causing them to lean towards the “easy foods”, which is often ramen. Either college students go for the easy option, which is often ramen, or they are constantly eating the wrong type of foods. However, not only are college students doing this but so are many other people, thus creating our horrible culture of eating industrialized foods. I have friends who are in different completely different from Denison. My best friend, Aileen, actually attends the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, which has a completely different environment from Denison. She claims, “Urbana is almost like a little city in which we sometimes have to take a bus to get to a class that’s all the way on the other side of campus” (Lopez). Denison is not exactly a city. I like to think of it as more of a community than anything. It doesn’t take long at all for us to get from one side of campus to the other. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know much about the food served at her campus, so I can’t speak much about it but I can still tell you what a college student could do to help in the change. But first let’s learn a little background