How Food Insecurity Impacts Nutrition
By: Jaden Petrus
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food insecurity as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.” Food insecurity is a direct result of inadequate income and resources in one’s community. Access to healthy food, socio-economic status, and food waste are three factors that contribute to food insecurity. In food insecure households, people’s eating habits are disrupted by eating less or going hungry. This has a significant effect on one’s nutrition and the daily caloric intake their body needs to function properly. Food insecurity is most prevalent in lower-income communities and disenfranchised neighborhoods. In the United States, Black and brown people suffer most from food insecurity.
Nutritional standards
The average person needs about 2,000 calories every day but nutrition standards vary depending on age, weight, gender, and activity level. When your body lacks the proper nutrients it needs to function, it doesn’t only affect physical strength but mental functioning as well. A Healthline article discussed the importance of a balanced diet by stating, “Without balanced nutrition, your body is more prone to disease, infection, fatigue, and low performance.”
This can result in stress, hypertension, and extreme weight loss. Access to supermarkets where fresh fruits and vegetables along with other foods rich in nutrients is essential to overcoming the negative effects hunger has on the body. Sadly, for individuals and families that are in positions where they need to prioritize housing, bills, and other needs, healthy alternatives aren’t at the top of their lists. These foods tend to be more expensive than fast or junk food would be. Those empty calorie foods only provide temporary relief of hunger all the while negatively affecting one’s GI tract which in itself impacts the entire body. The overwhelming annual amount of food waste produced globally further shows that the food insecurity isn’t due to a lack of food, but a lack of care. Access to healthy food, which should be a human right, is capitalized upon in every country. Instead of preserving and donating the foods that aren't used in restaurants, farms, and produce aisles, valuable foods are thrown away. The common excuse for refusing to donate these foods to food pantries or food banks is that people can get sick and companies can be sued. However, no evidence has been provided to prove this claim. Another common excuse major produce companies use is that throwing away food is much less expensive than donating it. As usual, capitalism supersedes human decency.
Statistics
- Of the 7.3 billion people on the planet, an estimated 805 million—or one in nine—suffered from chronic hunger between 2012 and 2014, according to the United Nations (rescuingleftovercuisine.org).
- According to the United States Department of Agriculture, “of the 318.9 million people in the United States, an estimated 49.1 million— or one in seven— were food insecure during 2014” (usda.gov).
- “Of the 318.9 million people in the United States, an estimated 49.1 million— or one in seven— were food insecure during 2014” ( (rescuingleftovercuisine.org).
- “In the United States alone, 40 percent of food gets tossed every year—and that amounts to $162 billion in waste annually, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.” (rescuingleftovercuisine.org).
- Foodispower.org states that “The highest rates of escalation have been identified in Native American youth and African-Americans and Latinos of all age groups, with these groups suffering disproportionately higher rates of type 2 diabetes compared to whites.” (foodispower.org).
Why we need to know this and take action
Millions of people across the world are starving and the food they need to survive is usually right around the corner. Socioeconomic standards influence who can nourish their bodies in the ways they need to. Even with a full time job, many families still cannot afford to put an adequate meal on the table. They may resort to hunger if alternatives such as food banks are inaccessible. We can't expect someone to work 40 plus hours at a minimum wage job, handle their financial responsibilities, support their households, and afford to nourish themselves in the way they should. This leads to a cycle of continued impoverishment, and medical complications that affect one’s overall quality of life. How can we live in a world where there is more than enough food to go around, yet there are still millions of people going hungry?
Recap:
- Food insecurity is a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life and a direct result of inadequate income and resources in one’s community.
- Access to healthy food, socio-economic status, and food waste are three factors that contribute to food insecurity.
- The average person needs about 2,000 calories every day but nutrition standards vary depending on age, weight, gender, and activity level.
- When your body lacks the proper nutrients it needs to function, your body is more prone to disease, infection, fatigue, and low performance.
- Creating efforts to limit food waste and provide more affordable and accessible opportunities for food insecure households are two ways we can overcome this hunger crisis.
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