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. Fast food and convenience stores along with gas stations have become toxic oasis’s in these deserts. Such stores prove to be the only markets in the area that supply food. Despite the areas being mainly low income, prices for produce are steep. Causing families to either plan …show more content…
Although there is a spike in reported mental health issues “[nearly] two thirds of those who do not report daily mental health problems eat fresh fruit or fruit juice every day” (Diet and Mental Health). In food desert one can only imagine how much good a mental health issue can do to person, family, or even a community. Mental disorders that can stem from poor nutrition include “depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Alzheimer’s disease.” (Diet and Mental Health). All of which can put an emotional and financial hole in anyone’s family. Disease like Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia can inhibit someone’s ability to become employed. Yet cities continue to neglect these communities and blame their lack of success to their
Comparative Analysis 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.
Although the fact that an effort is being made to improve conditions for these people is enough to inspire hope for their future health, there is still much more that needs to be done. Whether revisions occur in the form of changes in policies, public awareness, or campaigning by stores to make healthy foods more financially appealing, something desperately needs to be done and soon. The people living in these food deserts have been forced into horrible dietary habits, and now once presented with the ability to change, are unsure of how to achieve this goal of change. It is the obligation of all the people to educate, and inspire others to reform their diets, and ultimately improve their own
Could it be because the state is focusing on how much they are exporting and overlooks the deeper problem of hunger within their state? Christina Dreier lives in Mitchell County, Iowa, and is faced with the despair of not having enough food to feed her two growing children. Her plight is so extreme that she must make her three- year- old son go without breakfast, in hopes that he will eat the free breakfast provided by the school so that there will be enough food to feed their family for lunch. Sometimes there’s not even enough food for her to give her kids a snack that is healthy.
In the journal “Cost of Being Poor” by Debabrata Talukdar, the discussion focuses on the price difference between inner city and suburban neighborhoods and how the price affects among the social class and statuses. Talukdar used objective measures when conducting the social class measurements. Objective measures of the social class consist of factual questions and in-depth information about a selected demographic while subjective measures only allow participants to envision their own stand in the social class. In the research, data was thoroughly conducted; Talukdar uses income as one of the measures. It falls under the single-variable indexes.
Introduction The Locavore Movement is a cultural movement that is slowly influencing people to buy local foods because it's better for humanity and the environment. Community farmers are becoming increasingly popular and-and the idea of eating locally is not only fun but better for the environment and health. The locavore movement, over the years, has gained popularity because there have been having been numerous studies showing how eating locally is more nutritious and better for the environment. This idea is becoming the new desirable way of life, but there are still some downfalls that do not make the locavore way available to everyone. The movement has done a lot of good for our “previous food system” but, if they want to be truly successful they have to take it a step farther and not have it only be available to some but to everyone.
Forward thinkers partaking in the Locavore movement-- the communal switch over to consuming goods produced within certain geographical boundaries --are eating, living, and flourishing off of the land on which they live. Hypothetically speaking, if one community were to identify as a society of locavores, it may benefit nutritionally, environmentally, and micro-economically, but perhaps reversely affect the nation in regards the macroeconomic outlook and consistency. In terms of one American community, the localization of goods and services is capable of producing positive change nutritionally, environmentally, and micro-economically. Most affected by locavorism is the amount of nutrition delivered to the community through their diets.
When prices rise, consumers often move to cheaper, less-nutritious foods, increasing the risks of micronutrient defects and other forms of malnutrition, which can have long-term unfavorable effects on people’s health, development and productivity. Hunger
The rising health problems in the United States of America are caused by poor nutrition, people who are sedentary, the lack of healthcare prevention, and many more. As reported on the Tikkun website, “Of the many systems in our world today that need to be reimagined, none is more important for our future than our food system” (1). The lack of our food system is one of the many factors that has led the United States to its uprising dilemmas; one of the many factors are the food deserts across the U.S. Food deserts are geographic areas where access to affordable healthy and nutritious food are limited, or impossible to purchase, by residents in the area. Food deserts are prone to low-income areas that can’t afford transportation, and due to the lack of grocery stores and supermarkets that sells fresh produce and healthy food within convenient distance to resident’s homes, there is a difficulty in obtaining healthy food options which leads to countless health issues. According to the Diabetes Forecast website, “About 18.3 million Americans live in low-income areas and are far from a supermarket” (1).
In the United States there are many children and adults that go hungry, due to financial problems. With the economy and how high cost of living is, it’s hard to provide, food for the family. The results of hunger on children in America are not having the right nutrition, can have serious implication for a child’s physical and mental health. Also food insecurity is harmful to all people, but it is particularly devastating to children.
These ‘deserts' are even more complex than the unpronounceable chemicals like sodium stearoyl lactylate and azodicarbonamide on food labels. In a city where public transportation is limited to an anemic subway system, supermarkets -- and life expectancies -- remain just as unintegrated as car-constrained neighborhoods. On one side of town, famished families prioritize calories over nutrients. On another, blazer-clad businessmen, fatigued from rush-hour traffic, feel little connection to the underfunded groceries near their inner-city offices. Grocers shy away from 30318 investments, legislators debate retroactive healthcare policies, and identity-conscious kids, the targets of junk-food commercials,
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.
Food Deserts Food deserts are spaces that are at least a mile or more over from any super markets and/or shopping centers. They are usually located in places where most of the people who live there do not have reliable transportation. Most businesses in food deserts have corner stores and fast food restaurants, but there usually are not any healthy food places or choices in the area. Supermarkets have been harshly judged for leaving out a large population of the Black and Latino population in cities such as Memphis, Los Angeles and Detroit. These cities are desperate for more healthy food besides the many fast food places they have to offer.
Two years later, I was accepted to Goucher College with a full scholarship. As a part of my Environmental Studies major, I had to choose a research topic to complete during my senior year. Because of my deep interest in environmental and public health issues, I decided to research food deserts in Baltimore. Food deserts are places that lack nutritious, affordable food options for their residents, and my research examined the intersectionality of race, literacy and wealth that produces food deserts. Baltimore is a city that is highly segregated based on race and income, and thus food deserts are a widespread public health concern in the city.
Around the world more and more people are doing their best to eat healthier, one of the ways they are doing this is with the locavore movement. The locavore movement is a way of eating where all of the food that one consumes is both produced and sold locally. Locavores choose to eat food that has come from their community rather than from across the nation. Eating food that is from one’s local community is incredibly beneficial to both the environment and the health of the citizens, to greatly important components of a functional community. If a community were to implement the locavore movement, it would better the economy and enhance the nutrition and health.
In the world, there are one billion people undernourished and one and a half billion more people overweight. In this day and age, where food has become a means of profit rather than a means of keeping people thriving and healthy, Raj Patel took it upon himself to explore why our world has become the home of these two opposite extremes: the stuffed and the starved. He does so by travelling the world and investigating the mess that was created by the big men (corporate food companies) when they took power away from the little men (farmers and farm workers) in order to provide for everyone else (the consumers) as conveniently and profitably as possible. In his book Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System, Patel reveals his findings and tries to reach out to people not just as readers, but also as consumers, in hopes of regaining control over the one thing that has brought us all down: the world food system.