In the economically unpredictable country, the United States of America, there is obvious signs of corporate exploitation of the middle and lower classes in terms of economic status. However, the last thing you would think of are these huge food corporations scheming a class-based geographical empire of fast food chains with a scarcity of supermarkets. Food deserts are urban and rural areas, mainly of the lower class, that have virtually no access to healthy food options. Leading to more obesity and other dietary related diseases, such as diabetes. There are about 23 million people that live in food deserts, and out of that 23 million, “[more] than half of those people (13.5 million) are low- income” (Agricultural Marketing). A barren wasteland consisting of no healthy food options, or even a market where you can at least have a choice on what you eat, seems to be impossible to come by.
The prevalence of poverty in the city of Baltimore is not only based on location,but the education, race and dynamics of the family. According to the Maryland Alliance For The Poor (MAP) “25.2 percent of people in Baltimore City live below the poverty line - $23,492 for a family of four – in 2012.” and “The median income for households in Baltimore City is $39,788. Baltimore City, has one of the largest participation in free and reduced lunch along with the second highest unemployment rate in the state of Maryland. In addition, when it comes to food benefits Baltimore is one of top cities that receive food benefits. Baltimore, was one of the cities that benefited from the booming steel industry between the years 1950-1995. When the steel
On a sunny day in July sits an elementary school in anywhere, USA. In the cafeteria’s food line, Tommy tells the lunch lady, Mrs. Williams, that he is still hungry. He ate the cheese sandwich, which was authorized by the school policy for poor children. Over half of the students are on the program and all of them know that those who get cheese sandwiches are poor. These students were only reflecting the deep-rooted negative stereotypes about those living in poverty. This puts a negative label on them, even though poverty is not their fault. Mrs. Williams gives children extra food when they ask her. However, word gets out to the school administration that this has become her common practice. Subsequently, she
The USDA considers several indicators of access such as, accessibility to sources of healthy food, individual-level resources that may affect accessibility, and neighborhood-level indicators of resources. The definition explains that food deserts can be areas where grocery stores do not exist within several miles or even that food deserts can be areas where most of a grocery store’s products are processed foods with little to no nutritional value. Many food deserts are defined by the low-income communities which is most Native American communities where the unemployment rate was 11.3% in 2014 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS 45). It can be difficult for most families to afford food on a consistent basis. The Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota serves as a prime example where reports show that nearly 40% of families experience food insecurity (Bauer). Food deserts are merely a contributing factor to the current health epidemic and are part of economic struggles faced in Native American
According to RHI-Hub.com, Access to healthy and reasonable food can be a challenge for rural residents, unrelatedly of income level. Due to financial factors such as a low capacity of trades, many rural areas lack food shops and could be considered “food deserts.” Which are areas where there is limited availability of fresh, affordable foods. People who shop at rural communities may trust on less expensive and less nutritious options, such as those available at a gas station convenience store, than take a long drive to the grocery store that stocks fresh produce, milk, eggs, and other staples. In this paper I’m going to be talking about the effects of food deserts and how it effects peoples lives, how being in Rural cities such
Nearly half of America’s food goes to waste every year. Feeding America is an organization that specializes in fighting hunger and helping people that don’t have food. 42 million people face hunger in the U.S. today including nearly 13 million children and more than five million seniors. Hunger knows no boundaries, it touches every community in the U.S., including your own. Volunteers power the Feeding America network.
Hunger is a serious problem throughout the world, but today I will be focusing on hunger in america. Just for reference, I don’t mean the time between breakfast and lunch. I mean people who don 't know where their next meal is coming from, or are starving. I will be delving into the problems that exist, systems set up to help people do, and what an average person can do.
There 's a queue of people outside the church 's doors, the hungry line the street. Faces with unshaven beards, piles of shopping bags, and shabby clothes all standing outside the Church of the Apostles waiting just to be fed. With our country 's hunger issues growing larger in parallel with our elites power, Anna Quindlen exposes one of America 's growing economic issues to the everyday American. Anna Quindlen’s informative use of logos perpetuates the connection between our countries elite and its hungry.
I think the objectives set forth in Healthy People are a step in the right direction. They set goals that may not always be reached 100% but they are realistic and attainable. They always show improvement in areas that need work. However, there are some discrepancies that definitely stop the progress that Healthy People has set forth. Market and social justice principles make it difficult for health care delivery to be distributed equally among the nation. Social problems are issues that also increase the difficulty for health care delivery to be effective, such as poverty or homelessness. There are also set backs that occur do to economical issues the nation is having. A recent issue was the recession in the late 2000 's that caused many Americans
My original core reading “How a Government Computer Glitch forced Thousands of Families to go Hungry” Gerry Smith’s article goes into detail about North Carolina’s system glitch and how it forced several, hungry families to go without food. Smith is currently working with The Huffington Post to report all means involving technology. Ellen Smirl, the woman who published “Social Justice Deficits in the Local Food Movement: Local Food and Low-Income Realities” has written about several different topics, from the food industry all the way to the insurance companies. Within this reading she discusses alternative food movement and how these choices affect the environment. Likewise, both readings reach out and try to inform others
Food deserts are becoming a growing issue not unique to the United States. In 2010, it was estimated that 23.5 million Americans, including 6.5 million children, lived in an urban or rural food desert (Let’s Move, 2015). A food desert can be defined as a geographical area where communities lack access to healthy, inexpensive food options. The limited access to an affordable healthy diet presents a major challenge to residents living in food deserts. Instead of people’s main source of food being from a supermarket, communities will rely on eating at restaurants, fast food chains and convenience stores as their main sources of nutrition. The phenomenon is more prevalent in low-income, racial and ethnic minority neighborhoods, as it were reported
In chapter 2 they start to talk about food desserts. That the area of these food deserts are do not have accuses to enough food. Often these food desert areas only have food in liquor markets and gas station which the food is usually no healthy. This shows that the grocery stores failed to supply to inner-city locations. Often the area that did not have access to fresh foods had a much easier access to fast food restaurants. The supermarket is one of causes of obesity. The transportations to get the food was hard not many public services to get food. The chapter then talks about how on convenient stores are usually always open with food filled with tons of fats and sugars and how they have access to this 24/7. Another thing they talked about
Community Lunch on Capitol Hill has done an exceptional job at providing food, supplies, and resources to the local food insecure and homeless population. They are able to do this through their rhetoric on social media, which portrays them not as a “homeless feeding program”, but as a community-driven effort that helps everyone. This has proven successful in attracting widespread support from volunteers and food donors alike. Community Lunch has set an example for the fight against homelessness by asserting that the homelessness effort is a community driven effort. The American people need to know that homelessness is an issue that affects everyone and, therefore, is the responsibility of everyone to solve
The world is experiencing a dilemma today. Many people suffer from hunger, malnutrition, and other problems caused by the lack of sufficient food. However, many other people buy or order excessive foods and waste a lot. In my community, food waste is much more serious than food shortage, and it is easy to see that people throw foods in the dustbin and the foods indeed are still eatable. Food waste is a serious problem. It not only wastes money but also causes some environmental problems, such as pollution and rats. However, many people do not realize the problem now. Considering that food waste is troubling, it is important to initiate a movement to motivate residents to reduce food waste, and the movement can be carried out through reeducatice and facilitative strategies.
Social problems are issues which are considered to affect majority if not all members of a society either directly or indirectly. Whenever people come to live together in a social setting, conflict arises from their differences in opinions regarding political issues, religion, ethnic issues, cultural practices and other health and hygiene issues. In such a situation, we can say a society inevitably develops social problems. The various social issues present today vary from society to society, and as such, we cannot say that all societies face similar social issues. Social problems facing the societies encompass economic, political and human life issues within society. We can also include poverty, wealth, religion,