Olivia Singleton Senior Thesis 10/3/13 P.4 Healthy Living in the Black Community 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. In Chicago, food deserts are located on the south and west sides. Unfortunately, the south and west sides are mainly where black people live (Illinois Advisory Committee, 2011). There is a health disparity in the black community compared to the white community (Illinois Advisory Committee, 2011). The black community has a higher obesity and diabetes rate than the white community (Ver Ploeg , Breneman, 2009). The Illinois Advisory Committee concludes that predominately white communities have a lower obesity and diabetes rate because they have easy access to healthy food... ... middle of paper ... ... reside in those neighborhoods do not get grocery stores such as Mariano’s. When one walks around a predominately black community and or lower income, it is not easy to spot an organic healthy store. But if one was to walk around a higher income community, he can find a store who produces and or sells healthy food items. Because of the stores that is parallel to the obesity people see in their own neighborhood. The obesity rates have been rising according to the Illinois Advisory Committee. According to the New York Times, there has been a rise in food deserts because of the closing of the Dominick’s grocery store. People are having to take two buses to get to the nearest store that sells quality food. That is an issue of its own. It is not fair that people who need these stores are getting it taken away from them with no replacement. There has to be another way.
Many in the U.S., today, try to eat well,balanced, meals to order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. They do so by purchasing their food at farmers markets or making their own meals, so their food isn’t processed or genetically modified. Even though people are trying to maintain health in order to live long lives, without medical complications, many don’t have the opportunity to pursue life like this. In “Research shows food deserts more abundant in minority neighborhoods,” the author, Kelly Brooks, portrays an anecdote and logical reasoning, from Kelly Bower’s research, to thoroughly describe the food deserts in poor minority neighborhoods and how this issue needs to be repaired.
In her essay, “Food’s Class Warfare,” author Tracie McMillan promotes the inclusion of both “individual changes and structural ones” (217), particularly “class consciousness” (217), in the fight for quality diets in America. She reveals the most common sides of the healthy food debate as the inherent “just-buy-better stuff logic” (215) and the opposing “structural challenges of eating well” (215). The main strategies for defeating the American “obesity epidemic” (216) have been reaching out to the individual, as well as changing the structure of the American food system itself. The favorite concept for structuralists is “food deserts - neighborhoods with insufficient grocery stores and thus insufficient supplies of healthy food” (216). She deems the concept insufficient in practice, as it ignores smaller markets and equates large stores with a healthy food source. While the individual viewpoint and structuralists argue with each other, they share common ideals. According to
In the essay she uses quotes, and information from many reliable sources that make the essay more of a reality. In her essay, she uses one quote that says, “”Families are struggling in a way they haven’t done for a long time,” says Brian Loring the executive director of Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County, Iowa, which provides lunches for more than two hundred kids at five locations during summer months.” This is one of her many resources throughout the article. Her great use of research, and resources helps persuade the reader this is an actual ongoing problem within America that needs to be taken care of. She also uses information from many different states from New York and Iowa to Washington and Connecticut. Her use of more than just one place in America gives the readers more knowledge that this isn’t just happening in one place, but it is happening all over America.
Alviola IV, Rodolfo M. Nayga Jr., and Michael Thomsen to learn more about what food deserts and how they impact the society around them. I believed that this was a good source because it went into what food deserts are and how they might be connected to the increase of obesity. I learned that a food desert is an “area where access to healthy foods is limited or constrained” (Alviola 106). I also learned that studies have shown people who live in food deserts “are likely to pay higher prices for food and have limited options in terms of purchasing healthy foods” (Alviola 106). After reading this article I have realized that Xavier may also be in a food desert because the closest grocery store is Kroger whose produce is almost always non-fresh and does not look edible to eat which encourages people to leave and resort to eating fast food for every meal. Needing more information about the effects of Food Deserts I started to look at an article called, “The Effects of Food Deserts on the Weight Status of South Dakota Children”, written by Emily Niswanger, Elizabeth Droke, Suzanne Stluka, and Kuo-Liang Chang. I believed that this was a great next source to look into because the name of the article was exactly what I wanted to get more information about. The source was about one study that was made in the state of South Dakota to discover if food deserts do have an effect on
Food insecurity is one of the major social problems that we have in our world today. The concern about this problem is the increasing number of people that are beginning to experience hunger more often. “While hunger has long been a public health concern in developing countries, it has received varying degrees of attention in the United States, most notable during the 1930s and 1960s” (Poppendieck 1992). In addition to lack of food, there are consequences that follow. People, especially children, who suffer from food deprivation also undergo some health issues such as malnutrition and obesity, which leads to more health care and hospitalizations. “In the early 1980s, most reports of hunger involved families with children, the elderly, the unskilled and unemployed youth, the mentally ill, the homeless and minorities” (Brown 1992; Nestle and Guttmacher 1992). However, a particular ethnic group that is greatly affected by food insecurities are the Hispanic...
Because the people who live in food deserts do not get proper supplements of fruits and vegetable, much of their diets are consisted of mainly junk food, fast food, and meats. As a result of this, today, more than one third of adults in America are obese. In addition to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease can also be results of a lack of healthy food choices, which result from people buying their food from convenience stores that only sell processed foods and from fast food restaurants. This paper attempts to provide readers with a better understanding of the fact that not only do food deserts exists, they are threatening the lives of Amer...
...Hobbiss, A. Food Deserts And How To Tackle Them: A Study Of One City's Approach.Health Education Journal, 137-149.
Michael Twitty is a food writer and culinary historian best known for preparing, preserving and promoting African American food ways and its origins in Africa. He emphasizes how African food culture has made a great impact on the American South. His cooking helped him to learn about his identity and culture. He describes “identity cooking” a way to better understand him and his culture as a Jewish-African American. A project he developed called “The Cooking Gene” is what he explains as a means of “exploring my family history through food, from Africa to America, from slavery to freedom.” Race, food and ethnicity all have a more complex and cultural meaning especially when fused together. Different
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.
The United States developed the official poverty measures in 1960. It was developed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who had declared a war on poverty during the Civil Rights era. (The Path of Power- The years of Lyndon B. Johnson, (Caro, 16). The poverty rate of African Americans has been declining for many years. The Census Bureau releases two reports every year that describe who is poor in the United States based on cash resources. There is also the supplemental poverty measure (SPM) which takes account for the cash resources and non cash benefits from government programs aimed at low income families. (www.Census.gov/People and household). In 2012 there were over 46.5 million people in poverty and of those numbers 10 million were African American according to the poverty reports. African Americans have been a major factor since slavery. Since the late 1660s there has been a race on poverty since the marches of the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. Martin Luther King. One of the protests was the call to March on Washington in 1963. Dr. King stated that “on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity”. (MLK speech, March on Washington, 1963)
Food deserts are one of the main causes of obesity in lower income areas, and while initiatives are being created to solve this problem, more than just a few initiatives are needed to change the obesity issue.
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.
A large part of the change within a community is restaurants and grocery stores. With the influx of wealth coming into gentrified communities, the dining options within the area must match with the new demographic. Affordable grocery stores and restaurants are being bought out and displaced with new and expensive eating options. While this may be seen as a positive for people looking to buy or rent apartment in these areas, it is certainly a negative for someone who relies on these stores on a daily basis. Displacement isn’t confined to a physical location; culture can be displaced as well. The replacement of stores that citizens rely on for convenience is a part of gentrification as well. A notable example of gentrification outside of housing is Whole Foods. Whole Foods caters to the everyday lifestyle of the new demographic while upholding ludicrous prices for anyone on a budget. An article in The Real Deal New York States it best, “Kale could be a rent killer for long-term residents of Central Harlem.” This location in Central Harlem not only has ridiculous prices within the store, but the value of the apartments surrounding it have increased as well. This causes even more of a n increase in rent prices and pushes even more long-term citizens out of housing. Housing within a one-mile radius of the new Whole Foods in Harlem have a difference of four point seven percent in rent
The Dallas metroplex is an incredible community that has seen incredible levels of growth within the last few years. People from all over the nation have made Dallas there home and rightly so, as Dallas features a diversity of cultures and opportunities not typically found around the state. With the growth of the population comes the responsibility to help those in need in our community. In the Dallas Metroplex it is estimated that at least 452,000 people are food insecure. In fact, there are several notable cities in the Dallas County that hold families in need of food assistance.
Levine, James. "Poverty and Obesity in the U.S." Diabetes 60.11 (2011): 2667-2668. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.