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Effects of food deserts on health
Effects of food deserts on health
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Although the United States is considered one of the richest countries in the world the access to healthy food of good quality has been a significant issue. That problem affects especially elderly and low-income families. I live in Norwalk in Fairfield County and this is also an issue in my area despite the fact that Fairfield County is one of the wealthiest counties in the U.S. (fccfoundation.com). The access to organic foods is even more complicated as the pricing and supply demand dynamics present serious constraints for development in this area of food production. These complex issues are affecting large number of local residents. In this essay I will explore the underlying issues and try to evaluate potential solutions. The price …show more content…
She started an awareness campaign to bring the issue to the spotlight and rally the support to alleviate it. The food deserts are the areas where access to healthy foods is limited or nonexistent. The implications of food deserts are quite severe. The residents living in those areas are prone to have unhealthy eating habits due to lack of access to nutritious and well balanced foods. This in turn causes the health issues representing itself mainly in tendencies to obesity and health complications related to …show more content…
"The Argument for Local Food." World Watch 16.3 (2003): 20. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 11 Mar. 2011. Pollan, Michael. "NO BAR CODE. (Cover story)." Mother Jones 31.3 (2006). Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 11 Mar. 2011. Maresca, Alex, Brigitta Schuchert, and Bryn Mawr. "HUNGER LIVES HERE: A LOOK AT FOOD INSECURITY IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT." . N.p., 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 1 May 2014. http://www.fccfoundation.org/Library/FCCF%20Documents/Reports%20and%20Publications/Hunger%20Lives%20Here.pdf Greene, Catherine, Carolyn Dimitri, Biing-Hwan Lin, William McBride, Lyndia Oberholzer, and Travis Smith. "USDA ERS - Emerging Issues in the U.S. Organic Industry." USDA ERS - Emerging Issues in the U.S. Organic Industry. N.p., 1 June 2009. Web. 2 May 2014. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib-economic-information-bulletin/eib55.aspx#.U2bim_ldVrU "Reports Summarize Preventive Medicine Research from University of Connecticut." Agriculture Week 8 Nov. 2012: n. pag. Print. Martin, Katie. "Availability of Healthy Food in Corner Stores in Hartford, CT ." . N.p., 1 Jan. 2010. Web. 1 May 2014.
Walsh, Bryan. “America’s Food Crisis.” NEXUS. Eds. Kim and Michael Flachmann. Boston: Pearson, 2012. 166 – 173. Print.
More and more health-conscious individuals are scrutinizing the source of the food their family consumes. However, even the most conscientious consumer is not fully aware of the exhaustive efforts and struggle to get a juicy, ripe strawberry or that plump tomato in the middle of winter, even in Florida. These foods are harvested and picked mostly by seasonal and migrant farm workers. Migrant workers hail, in large part, from Mexico and the Caribbean, and their families often travel with them. Migrant farm workers must endure challenging conditions so that Americans can have the beautiful selection of berries, tomatoes, and other fresh foods often found at places like a farmer’s market or a traditional super market. Seasonal and migrant farm workers suffer a variety of health problems as a result of their constant exposure to stress, the elements, and chemicals such as pesticides. They are paid minimal wages and are expected to work long hours of strenuous labor for pennies on the dollar per piece or per hour. The migrant families are expected to live in substandard quarters and transported to various work sites in unsafe transportation. The fresh fruits and vegetables consumers purchase with little thought reach supermarkets at a cost that is not reflected in the retail price. This cost is ultimately absorbed by farm workers in Florida and other areas throughout the country, who are among the poorest of American workers.
Health Education Journal, June 2000, vol. 59. No. of the. 2 137-149 Ploeg, M.; Breneman, V.; Farrigan, T.; Hamrick, K.; Hopkins, D.; Kaufman, P.; Lin, B. H.; Nord, M.; Smith, T.; Williams, R.; Kinnison, Access to affordable and nutritious food measuring and understanding food deserts and their consequences : report to Congress (Rev. Sept. 3, 2009] ed.). (2009). The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Labor.
Did you know that today, 2.1 billion people – nearly 30% of the world's population – are either obese or overweight because they ate unhealthy food and didn’t exercise? After reading the Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, I have learned about all the opportunities right here in Rochester that have to do with eating more local food. We should eat more local food because it is healthier for us and it helps the environment.
“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
In Tracie McMillan’s article, “Food’s Class Warfare,” she discusses the possible problems and solutions of food equality among the classes. She believes, as does Alice Waters an organic chef, that “good food should be a right and not a privilege” (McMillan 1). “To secure the future of America’s food supply” (2) there are two camps of belief. The first, “just-buy-better-stuff” (2), is a belief that is based on an individual’s choice. Ultimately the choice is ours to make and we must be wise in what we eat. The second, structural challenges, argues that having access to healthy food will be what solves the problem. Although both sides have great points, McMillan believes it will take both working together, to change the way we eat.
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” as defined by the CDC, are “areas that lack access to affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, and other foods that make up the full range of a healthy diet” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). In simpler terms, a food desert is a community with little to no grocery stores. Many reports show that neighborhoods with less access to neighborhood grocery stores have a higher risk for obesity and unhealthy diets unlike neighborhoods where residents have better access to neighborhood grocery stores. The “USDA estimates that 23.5 million people, including 6.5 million children, live in low-income areas that are than one mile from a supermarket. Of the 23.5 million, 11.5 million are low-income individuals in households with incomes at or below 200 percent of the poverty line. Of the 2.3 million people living in low-income rural areas that ...
Wilde, Parke, and Mary Kennedy. "The Economics Of A Healthy School Meal." Choices: The Magazine Of Food, Farm & Resource Issues 24.3 (2009): 25-29. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
Puthnam J.J. and Allshore J.E. (1999). Food consumption prices and expenditures, 1970-1997. Food and Rural EACONOMIC Division, Economic Research Service, USDA Statiscal Bulletin 965
Poverty is regarded as the major cause of food insecurity. A household food security depends on access to food. America has access to good healthy food. However, a family too poor to buy them do not enjoy food security. Rosenbaum and Neuberger (2005) report that each year the number of people using government food assistance programs grows. “Food stamps are targeted to those with the greatest need for help in purchasing food… [and] helps to lessen the extent and severity of poverty (Rosenbaum and Neuberger 2005)”.
In the United States of America, the richest nation in the world, one in six Americans do not have enough food to eat. Have you ever wondered why there are so many food banks and food pantries throughout the country? They are not simply, as you might think, able to offer emergency food assistance. Indeed, they are the main sources of food for millions of food-insecure Americans. Food insecurity, the state of not having sufficient quantity of affordable and nutritious food, is very widespread and common in America.
Healthy alternatives can be found at a low cost, but not always available in certain areas. Supermarkets and super centers provide the most reliable access to nutritious and affordable produce, and their presence is an important indicator of a community's physical health and economic vitality. Bringing grocery stores to low-income areas creates a healthier food environment that supports making healthier choices. Having easy access to grocery stores or other food markets that sell fruits, vegetables, produce, and other staples at affordable prices is necessary to obtain food security. Yet, not all areas have access to these markets and centers.
It is almost like setting people in economic cages, they see their neighborhood and surroundings and notice the type of stores available unto them then notice how the other side flourishes. This strategy adds to the misconception that because one is of lower close, they need to stay within their means regardless of their health being at stake, while others can indulge in the options of much better quality instead of processed food and junk food (Nayga 2017) .The wealthy and rich are pampered with a large selection of services and goods meanwhile the struggling and poor are subjected to much lower forms of such. Lower income areas are bombarded with fast food stops, Dollar Generals, sometimes a Walmart, but mainly cheap quick fixes for the appetite of the low income part of a community (Nayga 1997) . Whereas middle to higher income are graced with higher end stores such as Lowe's food, Harris teeters, which contain roughly 85% of fresh organic and local foods, including the produce(Bower et al 2013) .
Generally, most healthy foods are more expensive than less healthy food. “Poor people are easy to identify because so many are obese. (Peck)” said by Anna Soubry, the Tory public health minister. The food prices have a significant impact on people who want to balance good nutrition. According to Geographic Differences in the Relative Price of Healthy Foods, the price of whole grains is 23 percent higher than that of refined grains in San Francisco, while 60 present higher in Pennsylvania and New York (Todd, Leibtag and Penberthy). Also, the price of fresh green vegetables is 20 to 80 percent higher than that of starchy vegetables in all markets across the United States (Todd, Leibtag and Penberthy). Due to the higher price of healthy food, a lot of people choose to eat unhealthy food, such as McDonald’s, especially for people who don’t want to...