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World hunger issue
+ negative impacts of drought on the environment
Importance of nutrition in infancy
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According to research, droughts are now the single most common cause of food shortages in the world. In 2011 World Food Programme states recurrent drought caused crop failures and heavy livestock losses in parts of Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya.It takes a while for communities like these to fully recover and some cane face up to months or years of hardship. Poverty struck families and children tend to reside in lower, urban areas. This can mean their distance to full service grocery stores are further; they may have limited access to their local food stores due to cost, and the rising cost of grocery store food according to the mt.nokidhungry (2009) childhood hunger chart. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines Food deserts as parts of …show more content…
America needs to fund more of its own child hunger issues, but we still however are avid contributors to “third-world” hunger issues. The burden of hunger and malnutrition are mainly in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. According to Sally Raphel (2104), each day in the developing world, 30,100 children die from mostly preventable and treatable malnutrition. Global recessions also cause higher food prices and foreign aid reduction. Statically, these developing world countries see child hunger the most; about 89% of undernourished people (including children) live in developing countries. The bulk (more than 70%,)of the world’s hungry are in the rural areas and villages in Africa and Asia. From a national standpoint, women and children suffer the most, and malnourished mother, and expecting mother soften give birth to underweight babies (ESchoolToday 2010). The global hunger problem is closely related to poverty, the economy, malnutrition, health conditions, unemployment; and it’s going to take a global change to totally eliminate …show more content…
Child hunger has an extensive history and won’t disappear overnight. It has taken a long time for child hunger to get this bad, and it will take time to even start resolving the issue. According to the USDA, the First Lady proposed Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) will expand the availability of nutritious food to food deserts—low-income communities without ready access to healthy and affordable food—by developing and equipping grocery stores, small retailers, corner stores, and farmers markets with fresh and healthy food. There is a $400 million investment from the government towards this initiative, which will go towards providing tax breaks for supermarkets that open in food deserts. There are a ton of hunger alleviation programs and organizations. Over a number of years, governments, charities, organizations, and a number of celebrities or wealthy individuals contribute a lot to getting rid of child hunger and keeping kids in school. Solutions also lie in churches, food banks, and non-profit organizations, but they can’t do it alone. Federal domestic nutrition programs such as SNAP (formerly known as food stamps), Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC), and the school lunch program are just a few examples. Collective action from local communities, having determination to do our part, and doing our research can also aid in alleviating child hunger. Schools also incorporate many programs in the
Anna Quindlen identifies that child hunger is not just in other parts of the world, it is also here. She informs readers that, “In most cases these are not parents who are homeless or out of work.
America is by far one of the wealthiest and most powerful nations worldwide. But to be such a powerhouse and beacon of some much opportunity, The United States is struggling to provide families with the sufficient amount of food. The parts of the country that lack adequate food supply are known as food deserts. The term food desert can be used when describing areas with limited resources and little to no access to fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy products. Affordable and nutritious food is almost impossible to gain access to in food deserts. Approximately 2.3 million of Americans live over a mile away from a supermarket and do not have a car. This equates to about 2.2 percent of all U.S. households. These statistics are according the data provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. The reports also indicate that some of these areas include vast, rural parts of West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, as well as urban areas like New York City, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles. The people residing in majority of these food deserts are predominantly African Americans.
Food deserts are places where healthy foods are not produced nor sold. Unfortunately, Chicago is filled with food deserts. Approximately 600,000 people reside in areas that consist of food deserts (Gallagher, 2006). Nearly 200,000 of those people are children. These children do not have the opportunity for healthier options, which shows an increase in obesity rates (News One Staff, 2011). There are 77 Chicago communities and out of that 77, 23 are food deserts (Gallagher, 2006). Chicagoans-particularly the black communities- are forced to live off the accessible food that is near them. The food deserts are in Austin, North Lawndale, Armour Square, Near South Side, Fuller Park, Grand Boulevard, Washington Park, Woodlawn, West Lawn, Chicago Lawn, Englewood, Ashburn, Auburn Gresham, Beverly, Washington Heights, Morgan Park, Roseland, Pullman, South Deering, Riverdale, South Chicago, and West Pullman (Grossinger, 2007). The communities are usually served by junk food- filled corner stores, which do not offer an abundance of healthy foods. The communities are in desperate need of change.
Many of the people living in food deserts are people with low income. These low-income families often turn to the junk food provided at the convenience stores and fast food restaurants because it is all they can afford. Socio-economic status is a defining characteristic of food deserts. Food deserts are most commonly found in areas dominated by minorities and low-income families. Studies show that wealthy areas have about triple the amount of supermarkets as poor urban areas do. In addition to this, predominantly white communities have about 4 times as many grocery stores as predominantly black ones do. Studies also show that grocery stores in African-American neighborhoods are usually smaller and have less option when it comes to the selection of foods.
As the world population grows so does the amount of people that live without the proper amount of nutrition and food. Hunger in America can be hard to recognize and many people do not realize that hunger and malnutrition is a problem that many Americans face every day. America is the land of plenty and one of the most powerful and wealthy countries in the world, however is well known that is subject to problem such as starvation, considered as “third-world problem”. For decades, Americans have gone above and beyond to aid other countries that were faced with problems such as malnutrition and hunger. Sadly, the US has failed to aid them and millions are currently suffering from hunger. In addition, with how the economy is now, the effects of hunger are getting worse every day. Many Americans are relying and most of them depend on food stamps and private organizations to help with this crisis. The documentary, “A Place at the Table” by Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush present some issues and real life story to explain what is really happening and how hunger and obesity are not problems on opposite ends of a spectrum, but are in fact intricately linked. Poor nutrition, health problem and poverty are all related.
The United States is known as the wealthiest country in the world. But, there are many people that can't afford to buy food for their families, many are also homeless. “While hunger affects people of all ages, it's particularly devastating for children even short-term episodes of hunger can cause lasting damage."(“Child Nutrition Programs") Child hunger in the United States is caused by poverty, unemployment, food insecurity, and food shortage; however there are many solutions to this problem like FRAC strategies, food banks, summer feeding programs, and backpack feeding programs.
“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 ...
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.
Imagine living but not eating, needing, but not having. In the United States there are currently forty-six point seven million people in poverty; forty-eight point one million people with food insecure that is including thirty-two point eight million adults and fifteen point three million children. It is painful to know that there are people that do not make it through the night because of not having any food. Those people have to wake up to no food and go to sleep with no food. The definition of ‘hunger’ is the feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food, coupled with the desire to eat. Action against Hunger says “At least one million malnourished children die every year because they lack access to the necessary treatment. Seventeen
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)”.
As of 2007, there have been reports that 48.7 million Americans are or have experienced being food insecurity at some point in their life. According to Central California Area Social Services Consortium (CCASSC), it has been reported that 45% of people who are food insecure are not below the federal poverty line (2012). There are many situations that are created for a person to become food insecure. Some examples of how food insecurities are created are issues with job stability, job loss, low or minimum wages, being a single parent, and/or unexpected expenses that can cause families to sacrifice or relocate money for food to pay for bills such as car repairs and medical bills (CCASSC, 2012). Many believed that food insecurity and hunger are the same thing. However, they are two completely different things. Congressional Digest (2010) stated that, “although hunger is related to food insecurity, it is a different phenomenon. Food insecurity is a household-level economic and social condition of limited access to food while hunger is an individual-level physiological condition that may result from food insecurity.” According to the CCASSC, it has been reported that 40.4% of the citizens living in California are food insecure. Unfortunately, as we hit closer to home in Fresno County, where it has been reported that 41.9% of out own citizens are food insecure
When considering the topic of poverty and hunger, many Americans look outside the borders of the United States. However, food insecurity is an issue that plagues millions of American households each year. The United States Department of Agriculture found that 14.5% of American households faced food insecurity during 2012. These households were defined as having “difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources” (Nord, Singh, Coleman-Jensen).
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.
Food deserts are areas where the population has limited access to fresh produce and healthy, affordable choices for food. Many of those living in food deserts are in poverty, restricting their budget for food. For this reason, they revert to fast food and cheap, processed food. The root of the issue lays at the problems of race and poverty, as the gap between rich whites in power and poor people of color grows. Some offer simple solutions to the problem such as planting a garden while others consider food alternative programs, but for long lasting change, legislature is to address the issue.
“For most of the history of our species we were helpless to understand how nature works. We took every storm, drought, illness and comet personally. We created myths and spirits in an attempt to explain the patterns of nature (Druyan).” According to Fox, Drought came also be seen as a slow- motion train wreck. We still have a very short time to get the people off safely before the crash. This drought is causing long dry period in regions were rain fall is usually frequent enough. From there this drought is turning to more like a famine because the area in drought is so huge and is causing much conflict for the survival of the people (2011). These areas include Somalia, southern Ethiopia, and northern Kenya.