A primary factor affecting food insecurity is low socioeconomic status (SES). Low socioeconomic status is an individual's quality of life influenced by inadequate income, education, and occupation, which can impact an individual's access to essential resources (American Psychological Association, 2022). In 2022, 36.7% of households with incomes below the federal poverty line in the United States were food insecure (Rabbitt et al., 2023). Many household incomes falling below the poverty line are considered low SES. Low socioeconomic status hinders many households' access to essential resources such as food. As low socioeconomic status exacerbates the risk of experiencing food insecurity, the compounding cost of high cost of living and food prices also contributes to the risk of food insecurity. …show more content…
With a large migrant population in the United States, many migrants face the challenge of gaining access to food. The results of a study that examined the 2019-2020 National Health Interview Survey revealed that noncitizens had 1.28 times higher odds of food insecurity than U.S.-born citizens (Sharareh et al., 2023). Many migrants undergo a phase of acculturation, which impacts their ability to find income due to the hardship of securing a job and applying to federally supported programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which aims to alleviate financial costs associated with food insecurity (Sharareh et al., 2023). The likelihood of experiencing food insecurity is at greater risk for those who are not familiar with the United States' systems and culture. Various confounding factors relating to an individual's finances impact food access, but another critical factor is an individual's demographic location. Being in rural areas, you are more prone to food deserts, which increase people's risk of experiencing food
According to Dolgoff and Feldstein (2003), “the needs and goals of the Food Stamp Program are to alleviate hunger and malnutrition by enabling low-income households to buy a nutritious adequate diet” (p. 132). The program also improved the market for local merchants to produce food for eligible low-income households and other agencies such as the School Lunch Program which safeguard the health and wel...
What is food insecurity? It is “a household-level, economic and social condition of limited access to food” (Curtis 2008). Nowadays, there are many people that are unemployed and homeless because of our weakening economy. But nobody really stops and thinks about the numerous people that have unequal access to food, especially healthy foods. When I observed the people who go into food pantries, I notice that there are a variety of ethnic groups. However, the most prominent race that I see, are Hispanics. This observation brought me to produce my research question. Is there a significant difference of food insecurity among Hispanics compared to non-Hispanics? The purpose of this paper is to discuss the main factors that cause more food insecurity among Latinos than any other race.
Jenson & Fraser’s (2011) discussion on the impact poverty has on children is even more relevant today because of the impacts the recession has had on childhood poverty and the need for more thoughtful social policies which will better elevate families out of poverty. Raedle (2013) reports that enrollment for SNAP has increased and now 15% of Americans are enrolled in SNAP. Raedle’s (2013) report on the rising enrollment in SNAP coincides with Sell, Zlotnik, Noonan & Rubin’s (2010) article discussing how the recession has impacted outcomes for children; Sell, Zlotnik, Noonan & Rubin (2013) discuss how food insecurity can have a major negative impact on childhood wellbeing and can produce negative outcomes into adulthood (p. 14). According to Sell, Zlotnik, Noonan & Rubin (2013) the last recession has resulted in high rates of unemployment, which can take years after a recession to recover, and “unemployment is a known contributor to food insecurity” (p. 16)
There are several programs in the Muncie area that assist those who are dealing with food insecurity. Some of these programs are: Indiana school breakfast and lunch program, Second Harvest Food bank and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program. These three programs help those who suffer from food insecurity but do so in different ways.
The United States Department of Agriculture defines food unsecurity as the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food, or the ability to acquire such food, is limited or uncertain for a household. Food insecurity also does not always mean that the household has nothing to eat. More simply stated it is the struggle to provide nutritional food for ones family and/or self. The people that suffer from food insecurity are not all living below the poverty line. In 2012 49.0 million people were considered food insecure in the United States of those 46.5 million were in poverty (Hunger & Poverty Statistics, 2012). For some individual’s food insecurity is only a temporary situation for others it maybe for extended period. Food insecurity due temporary situation such as unemployment, divorce, major medical or illness can be become more long term. The vast majority of these are families with children.
Food insecurity is an issue faced by millions of Americans every day, and the biggest group affected by this is working families with children. Food insecurity is so big that the United States government has now recognized it and provided a definition for it. The United States government has defined food insecurity as “a household level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food” (USDA.gov). Food banks and anti-hunger advocates agree that some of the causes of food insecurity are stagnant wages, increase in housing costs, unemployment, and inflation of the cost of food. These factors have caused food banks to see a change in the groups of people needing assistance. Doug O’Brien, director of public policy and research at Chicago-based Second Harvest says “’we’ve seen a real shift in who we serve. A decade ago, it was almost always homeless, single men and chronic substance abusers. Now we have children and working families at soup kitchens’” (Koch). These families that are feeling the effects of food insecurity will not be only ones affected by it, but all of America. Studies have shown that there is a link between food security, performance in the classroom, and obesity. If this issue is not faced head on, America will have a generation of children not fully prepared for the workforce and high health insurance rates due to obesity health issues.
Food insecurity can be “broadly defined as having limited access to adequate food” (Nguyen, Shuval, Bertmann, & Yaroch, 2015). While one might think that low income individuals who do not know where their next meal is coming from would be thin or underweight, many of those facing food insecurity instead struggle with obesity. This paradox may be a result of the very programs implemented to combat food insecurity in low income families. SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a federal assistance program that gives money to households for food based on income and need. According to a study done by the USDA, “SNAP participants were more likely than income-eligible and higher income nonparticipants to be obese,” with SNAP participants being 40 percent more likely to be obese (2015). The problem is that even though SNAP provides resources to food insecure individuals, the food being provided is not nutritious and is thus contributing to the high rates of obesity in SNAP participants. Healthcare costs and mortality increase as more individuals become obese. Preventing these problems from happening by implementing nutrition education will increase SNAP participants’ health overall and bring down their healthcare costs.
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...
Food insecurity refers to the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of adequate, nutritious food. A direct correlation has been distinguished between food, income and overall health (Noreen et al. 2001). Food insecurity has been strongly influenced by financial constraints, resulting in individuals choosing to manage their food expenditures and dietary choices based off of what they can afford (McIntyre et al. 2016). Additionally, food insecurity leads to the altering of eating patterns for adults and ultimately hunger in children; due to depletion of resources and food supplies. Households experiencing food insecurity are commonly lacking sufficient funds for food and acquire several health problems as a consequence. Food insecurity was significantly associated with poor health, multiple chronic conditions, obesity, anxiety, distress and depression (Noreen et al. 2001). Therefore, this is an issue of importance to public
For most Americans, the word poverty means insufficient access to to housing, clothing and nutritious food that meet their needs for a healthy life. A consequence of poverty is a low socioeconomic status that leads to being exposed to poor nutrition. Since food and dietary choices are influenced by income, poverty and nutrition go hand in hand. There are many important factors that threaten the nutritional status of poor people. The number one factor is not having enough money to buy food of good quality and quantity. Not having enough money can have a profound impact on the diets of low-income people. Limited financial resources may force low income people to make difficult decisions about what kind and how much food to buy. Limited financial resources often lead to food insecurity. According to Gundersen, Waxman, Engelhard, and Brown (2011) food insecurity is the lack of access to healthy food in quantity or quality.
This comparison shows how poverty levels, in recent years, are plateauing with around 15% of the population living below the poverty line. The perpetuation of this issue suggests that poverty, unlike a recession or a brief economic downturn, is a persistent issue that continually affects our global society. But what does poverty or impoverishment mean? The definition of poverty is more than a simple state of hardship but rather a time economic turmoil. The specific poverty threshold varies from state to state but on average is $12,082 for one person and $24,257 for a family of four (2012 US Census Bureau). For the individual living alone, the poverty line would mean living on about $30 a day; for the family of four, the poverty line would mean about $16 a day per person. And with this daily dollar amount, people must pay for housing, gas, electricity, heating, food, child care, education fees and more. By looking how much needs to be paid and how little they actually have, it becomes clear how their lives are a struggle for basic survival. Poverty tends to affect certain demographics of people more than others. Amongst ethnic groups, poverty rates are highest amongst Black Americans at 24% with Hispanic Americans following at 21%
In the year 2015, around 40 million U.S. citizens were food insecure (Randall para. 3). Food insecurity can be defined in paragraph 3 by “[having] difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources. This 12.7% of American citizens also contains another group - children. Aged 10-17, 6.8 million adolescents struggle with a food insecurity. There have been several years of cuts to the social programs designed to help these people, along with the Great Recession continuing to leave an impact on the U.S. economy (para. 6). Under the Obama administration, $8.6 billion was cut from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as Food Stamps. From 1993-2001 under the Clinton administration, former President Bill Clinton’s administration “gutted the welfare system” (para. 15). Because of these budget cuts, the families who rely on food assistance from the government have been allotted less throughout the years. From a sociological perspective, the concepts of sociological imagination, class stratification, and social location are in effect when it comes to child hunger in the United States. Being hungry is an issue larger than any one individual can control.
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.
Alaimo, K., Olson, C. M., Frongillo, E. A., & Briefel, R. R. (2001). Food insufficiency, family income, and
Poverty is an undeniable problem in America. In 2014, 14.8 percent of the United States was in poverty (“Hunger and Poverty Fact Sheet”). There are more people in the United States than it seems that do not have their basic necessities. In an