I. Introduction
Food security is a “situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” as agreed upon at the 1996 World Food Summit (Barrett, 2010). In today’s society, there are roughly 1 billion people who are hungry and do not have this security in their daily lives (Warr, 2014). Food insecurity is measured by analysts using proxy measures for different aspects of food security; the most widely cited food insecurity figures are derived from the “undernourishment” estimates produced by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (Barrett, 2010). The FAO generates these estimates from national-level food balance sheets and assumptions about the state of the distributions of foods.
II. Body
A. Food Insecurity and Health Disparity
I believe that there is food insecurity in the United States because there is not enough readily available, cheap, healthy food to purchase in the markets. The food may be cheap and available, but that does not ensure that the food will be sufficient, safe or nutritious as stated in the 1996 World Food Summit’s definition as necessary components of food security.
The food insecurity rate in the United States, measured by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), rose from about 11 percent in 2007 to 22.5 percent in 2009 after the Great Recession; this percentage has remained constant even after the end of the Great Recession in June 2009 (Gundersen & Ziliak, 2015). This number is roughly 48 million people including 15 million children (Denny, 2016). This has to do with the spike in food prices that occurred during the Great Recession in 2008, unemployment and poverty in the U.S.; as the prices of food grew, more people were left unsecure in their daily dietary needs.
Food insecurity relates to and leads to health disparities in the U.S. because of the lack of affordable, nutritious, available food in our society. The majority of research done on food insecurity and its health outcomes has been conducted with children in the U.S. Gundersen and Ziliak summarized multiple research articles and their findings which revealed that food insecurity has been associated with an increased risk for birth defects, anemia, lower nutrient intake, cognitive problems, aggression, and anxiety in children. It has also been connected to higher risks of hospitalization, poorer general health, asthma, behavioral problems, depression, suicidal thoughts, and insufficient oral health in children (Gundersen & Ziliak, 2015).
These outcomes are alarming and mirror the results from research done with adults. In the studies done with senior, and non-senior adults, the results of the collective studies displayed that food insecurity can have an impact on health outcomes such as decreased nutrient intake, increased rates of mental health problems, depression, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, poor sleep outcomes, and oral health problems (Gundersen & Ziliak, 2015). In all of the studies done with adults and children, the negative health outcomes were significantly more likely in the food-insecure persons compared to food-secure individuals.
B. Food Deserts
Food deserts are places that have limited access to supermarkets or fresh, nutritious food. They exist because of the low income of the area’s residents and the low access to healthy, affordable foods. It is estimated that 23.5 million Americans live in a food desert and while there have been an increasing number of grocery stores implemented in those areas with food deserts, this has not changed the shopping and eating habits of the people in those areas (Corapi, 2014). This could be because the income of these individuals has not changed and the fresher, more nutritious items are usually more expensive because of their taxes and subsidies (Corapi, 2014).
Food deserts contribute to health disparities in the U.S. by the individuals in these areas not having access to quality, nutritious foods. The health outcomes associated with food deserts include an increased risk for diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and atherosclerosis (Adams, Ulrich & Coleman, 2010).
In Goldsboro, NC, where I live, there is only a small area that would be considered a food desert. These individuals would need to have a car to access a supermarket in their area. Most of these individuals live in the country and need to access highways in order to enter a city that would have a supermarket which makes them live in a food desert.
C. Nutrition and Health
The quality of nutrition supplied to food insecure families are things that they can afford which tend to be the subsidized, energy dense, nutrient lacking, processed foods. These products are usually cheaper and more available in today’s society.
Food insecurity leads to poor health because low income families, with low accessibility to nutrient dense, affordable food products are forced to choose between quantity and quality. Many families that are food insecure choose to buy the energy dense, less expensive, nutrient lacking foods. This leads to the hunger and overweight paradox associated with food insecurity caused by choosing these nutrient lacking, calorically dense foods (Denny, 2016).
D. Government Programs
There are government assistance programs in the U.S. that are there to combat food insecurity. A few of these programs include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).
SNAP, previously known as the Food Stamp Program, allows low-income individuals to buy food using a pre-paid card at most grocery stores (FRAC, 2017). Its benefits are completely funded by the federal government and is administered by the USDA. With this program, there were 4.6 million Americans that were helped out of poverty in 2015 (FRAC, 2017). SNAP substantially reduces the prevalence of food insecurity and therefore aids in reducing the risk for health disparities (Gundersen, Ziliak, 2015).
WIC is another program that is critical in reducing food insecurity by providing aid to low-income pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and children with nutrient dense foods, nutrition classes and improved access to health care to prevent negative nutrition related health outcomes during pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood (FRAC, 2017). There are about 8 million women and children who rely on WIC every month in the U.S.
The CACFP is another program that aids in reducing food insecurity in the U.S. by paying for nutritious meals and snacks for eligible children and adults in child care centers, afterschool programs, homeless shelters, and senior day care centers (FRAC, 2017). This program helps to support the development of lifelong healthy behaviors by providing nutritious meals at an early age. This program supports 4 million children daily, 125,000 individuals in adult day care and 62,000 child care centers (FRAC, 2017).
III. Conclusion
Food deserts and food availability are just part of the problem for food insecurity. The other issues involved are that there is not enough education towards living a healthy lifestyle with food choice and exercise; and that the nutrient dense, more nutritious options tend to be more expensive and less available because of the taxes and subsidies involved with their purchase. Low income families choose to buy the less expensive, energy dense foods because they are more readily available, they are familiar with those items, and they have not been educated to do otherwise. These nutrient lacking food choices are associated with an increased risk for health disparities like diabetes, coronary heart disease and obesity. If we do not educate society on better food choices and change our policies regarding nutritious, sustainable foods, the U.S. could continue to increase its percentages of these health disparities in the future.