Food Deserts In The United States

In the infamous prose “Attention Whole Foods Shoppers” Robert Paarlberg, a Harvard international affairs expert divulges on the ongoing warfare with the issue of sustainability. Paarlberg focuses on how the rise in global starvation increases in less developed nations, but it is often ignored by those in developed countries because of their fixation with the green revolution. He asserts many claims as to why Africa and Asia still have high food deprivation rates, which quite contrary to popular belief has nothing to do with overpopulation. This stems from lack of investment into agricultural infrastructure and investments. His criticism of whole foods shoppers seeks to bring awareness to the issue of world hunger and how the quest to eat organically

The Future of Foods Projects Presented at LA City Hall on Food Day 2017 Promote a Good Food Economy for All Smart Stop: Plant-Based Convenience Store Could not find info online Hank’s Mini-Market: Convenience Store Transforming into a Community Arts Hub and Healthy Food Store in Partnership with Sweetgreen The healthy neighborhood market network has been working with corner stores in south LA and Boyle Heights to offer more fresh produce and healthy food options. Hanks's Mini Market located on 3301 W Florence Ave, LA CA and has been transforming the community by providing its food resources to Sweetgreen restaurants. http://goodfoodla.org/policymaking/healthy-neighborhood-market-network/ Create a Culture Shift

This source comes from the magazine “Slate” which is known for arguing against Commonly held views about a subject’s one of them being food. The article “Food Deserts Aren’t the Problem” explains that giving the poor access to healthy food will not make the poor healthy. Heather Gilligan shows an insight to the things that cause poor people have a shorter lifespan than those with a higher income. The diet of the poor does not really change when they have access to healthier food manly because the healthier food is still to expensive.

I just thought it was it was of convenience for everyone to walk and every city and state had just as many all over, just not enough supermarkets to go around. Although I was wrong, I did start to realize that with Bridgeport having by far the highest population in the state with having the nearest grocery store miles away plus for the biggest city in the state to have less than 3 total doesn't make sense. The corner stores were good as a kid but there was very few (if any) limited number of healthy, low-cost options. Going to the grocery store would feel like a field trip because once we finally would make it to one we would try to get as much as we could to last because we didn't want to make another trip anytime soon.

Having an increased variety of foods available, as well as more diverse sources, allows a consumer to make educated and informed choices. As the community itself becomes more invested in the topic of food, there arise “ordinary, middle income folks who have become really engaged in food and really care about where their food comes from” (Source E). As such, they turn to local markets where they know the community members that produce the food and how the food is sourced. These individuals then promote the reasons for buying locally sourced food, as a blog dedicated to eating locally provides, saying that “produce that you purchase at your local farmer’s market has often been picked within 24 hours of your purchase” (Source A). Yet, for all its claims and popular support, the locavore movement also spreads false information.

Food deserts are a major problem in neighborhoods around the United States and its’ a leading cause of health problems and obesity. Food deserts link to obesity and being obese put someone at more risk of having cancer and diabetes. A food desert is an area where there is lack of grocery stores and limited of healthy whole foods. “The theory of food deserts is that poor people eat poor diets in part because fresh, healthy food is not accessible in areas where they tend to live” ( Wright ). Families in low-income neighborhoods tend to be less healthy than families in high-income neighborhoods due to the unhealthier foods they have to eat.

I am choosing to examine and address the issue of “food deserts”. Food deserts are known as poor urban areas where the residents within the poor areas cannot purchase affordable, healthy food, the term food deserts was constructed to illustrate why policy makers need to look more critically at the nutrition difficulties in low-income areas (Cummins,2002). A gap in health is embedded into the interrelationship of racism, culture and the historical, economic, and political structures that make for the experience of African Americans and other racial and ethnic groups within the United States (Lewis et al., 2011). The primary concern of “food deserts” is that poor or rural areas do not have access to supermarkets, grocery stores, or other food

Quoting Wal-Mart, Mr. Holt-Gimenez explains, “If you’ve always lived near a grocery store, or fresh market, here’s something you’ve probably never considered: There are neighborhoods across the United States where it is nearly impossible to find fresh produce. These places are called ‘Food Deserts’ and Walmart is committed to removing them from our communities” (525). Access to fresh, high-quality food is a major factor in today’s obesity problem and the reason why lower income individuals suffer from higher obesity. Lower income residents, often with no access to transportation other than the public system, are at the mercy of the food offerings that are within a few blocks from their home. With no grocery stores or fresh markets around, their choices are limited to fast, low-quality take out or pre-packaged foods void of any nutritious value.

The overconsumption of foods with high levels of sugar, oils, fats and calories has contributed to the rise of obesity in America, and food deserts are to blame as a contributing factor to the epidemic. A UCLA study found that “people who live near an abundance of fast-food restaurants and convenience stores compared to grocery stores and produce vendors have a significantly higher prevalence of obesity and diabetes” (Designed for disease, 2008). In 2013, it was reported that 67% of the US population is overweight or obese (Budzynska et-al, 2012). Overweight and obesity are major public health problems because having a high percentage of body fat will raise an individual’s risk of diabetes, stroke, arthritis, heart disease and some cancers (Let’s Move). In California, adults living in food deserts had a 20 percent higher prevalence of obesity and a 23 percent higher prevalence of diabetes (Designed for Disease).

In a country that wastes billions of pounds of food each year, it's almost shocking that anyone in America goes hungry. Yet every day, there are millions of children and adults who do not get the meals they need to thrive. We work to get nourishing food – from farmers, manufacturers, and retailers – to people in need. At the same time, we also seek to help the people we serve build a path to a brighter, food-secure future.

Farmer’s markets allow families to experience the culture and passions of local merchants, farmers, and friends through freshly produced foods. In these communities, people buy nutritious goods difficult to find in their local grocery stores. For the past decade, the locavore movement has influenced and convinced many people to eat locally grown products as much as possible because they claim it preserves the environment. However, many people disagree with this movement stating even though it supports local farmers, it hurts farmers in other places. They also say it ignores economies of scale involving good miles.

In short, many people around the United States suffer from food instability and hunger. People can’t always help the situations they are in, but there are things almost everyone can do to help the hunger situation in

The hunger crisis is not only a problem for the third world countries. Right now for every 10 people in America one is struggling with hunger that is over 50 million people and it is not just poor people. Some people are struggling with hunger due to making less nutritious meals or cheaper meals because they can’t afford the food to make the meals. In some ways hunger in America is very similar to other countries due to high unemplayment rates and people can’t afford to buy good heathly food or any food at all. But it is also very different than some countries like Africa where there is a severe drought with no way to import food and people can not grow food or the government is corrupt and take the food for themselves.

The large number of illegal immigrants that produce this food is what keeps prices down, therefore making food more available. In fact,“The USDA has also warned that, “any potential immigration reform could have significant impacts on the U.S. fruit and vegetable industry.” From the perspective of National Milk Producers Federation in 2009, retail milk prices would increase by 61 percent if its immigrant labor force were to be eliminated.” Seeing that illegal immigrants make up 53% of the nation’s 2.5 million farm workers, and without these people, food prices would skyrocket, one must question why so many people are against illegal

Everyday billions of people all of the world decide how they will provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner for themselves and/or their families. People enjoy gathering around food for all types of celebrations, football games, family gatherings, meetings, and more. Food is an absolute necessity in our lives as it is the fuel for our bodies and everyone has the choice to cook meals within their homes each day or they have the choice of eating out at a restaurant. In the time we are living in today there are a lot more restaurants available than there was 50 years ago and the number continues to rise. Both eating out and eating at home have advantages and disadvantages