Food Insecurity
Hi Friends!
Welcome to Issue 43 of this newsletter. This week’s topic is Food Insecurity. In 2020, an estimated 1 in 8 Americans were food insecure, equating to over 38 million Americans, including almost 12 million children. Feeding America states, “food insecurity does not exist in isolation, as low-income families are affected by multiple, overlapping issues like lack of affordable housing, social isolation, economic/social disadvantage resulting from structural racism, chronic or acute health problems, high medical costs, and low wages.” Food deserts, food swamps and food mirages are prevalent across America, with the COVID-19 pandemic further highlighting these communities. Let’s dive in by talking about some key terms, learning some stats, and taking on some action steps to create real-world change. Let’s get into it!
Key Terms
Food Insecurity: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food insecurity as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.
Social Determinants of Health: The conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning and quality-of-life outcomes and risks
Food Desert: Food deserts are regions where people have limited access to healthful and affordable food. This may be due to having a low income or having to travel farther to find healthful food options. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) define a food desert as an area that has either a poverty rate greater than or equal to 20% or a median family income not exceeding 80% of the median family income in urban areas, or 80% of the statewide median family income in nonurban areas. In order to qualify as a food desert, an area must also meet certain other criteria. In urban areas, at least 500 people or 33% of the population must live more than 1 mile from the nearest large grocery store. In rural areas, at least 500 people or 33% of the population must live more than 10 miles from the nearest large grocery store.
Food Swamp: A food swamp is a region that provides adequate access to healthful and affordable food, as well as an overabundance of less healthful food options. In Canadian urban areas, food swamps are more common than food deserts.
Food Mirage: A food mirage describes an area where people live close to grocery stores offering a variety of healthful foods but cannot afford those foods. Because of this, people must travel farther to find healthful foods that are within budget.
Food Justice: The right to grow, sell and eat healthy food.
Food Apartheid: A term growing in popularity to “Food Desert” because it highlights the political reality of food insecurity. Food and agriculture is deliberately not made available to specific communities (Black, brown, low-income and Indigenous).
Food Sovereignty: The right of people, especially farmers, to define their own agricultural and food systems. Food sovereignty demands that the policies and mechanisms involved in production, distribution and consumption of food focus on creating ecologically sustainable systems and healthy lives for people, rather than profits for corporations.
SNAP: SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), formerly called food stamps, is a government program that helps people buy the food they need for healthy lives. Across the United States, there are 9.5 million families and children using SNAP to buy food. It is the largest program working to fight hunger in America.
Let’s Get Into It
Though food insecurity is closely related to poverty, not all people living below the poverty line experience food insecurity and people living above the poverty line can experience food insecurity. Studies have found that wealthy districts have three times as many supermarkets as poor ones do, that white neighborhoods contain an average of four times as many supermarkets as predominantly Black ones do, and that grocery stores in Black communities are usually smaller with less selection.
“Part of the problem is how the US government’s North American Industry Classification System (NAICS is the standard used by the federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments) categorizes retail outlets that sell food. According to the NAICS code, small corner grocery stores are statistically lumped together with supermarkets, such as Safeway, Whole Foods Market, etc. In other words, a community with no supermarket and two corner grocery stores that offer liquor and food would be counted as having two retail food outlets even though the food offered may be extremely limited and consist mainly of junk food.” Many of the convenience stores that had items such as a bunch of bananas or a few apples would sell the fruits individually. Because these items are not priced, the customers are often at the mercy of the person behind the counter who determines the cost then and there. Customers who don’t have a good understanding of English might never ask the price of the item.
Those living in food deserts may also find it difficult to locate foods that are culturally appropriate for them, and dietary restrictions, such as lactose intolerance, gluten allergies, etc., also limit the food choices of those who do not have access to larger chain stores that have more selection. Additionally, studies have found that urban residents who purchase groceries at small neighborhood stores pay between 3 and 37 percent more than suburbanites buying the same products at supermarkets.
Some of the health effects of living in a food desert include:
Levels Of Food Security
According to Feeding America, households are often described as either food secure or food insecure, four levels of food security describe the range of households’ experiences in accessing enough food.
Food Insecurity And Chronic Disease
The cycle of food insecurity and chronic disease begins when an individual or family cannot afford enough nutritious food, illustrated by the image below. The combination of stress and poor nutrition can make disease management even more challenging. Further, the time and money needed to respond to these health conditions strains the household budget, leaving little money for essential nutrition and medical care. This causes the cycle to continue, increasing the risk of worsening existing conditions.
Food Insecurity In The Black Community
The Black community consistently faces hunger at higher rates than whites due to social, economic, and environmental challenges. In 2020, 24% of Black individuals experienced food insecurity - more than three times the rate of white households.
Discriminatory policies and practices have led Black people to be more likely to live in poverty, more likely to face unemployment, and have fewer financial resources like savings or property than their white counterparts. All of these factors increase someone's likelihood to experience hunger.
The median income for Black households is roughly $46,000 per year while non-Hispanic, white households earned a median income of roughly $71,000 per year.
While the United States has an overall poverty rate of 11.4%, within the Black community, the poverty rate is 19.5%. Meanwhile, poverty in the non-Hispanic, white community is 10.1%.
Food Insecurity In The Latinx Community
Latinx communities experience unique challenges and are more likely to face hunger than non-Hispanic white communities. In 2020, more than 19% of all Latinxs in the United States was food insecure.
Racial prejudice and language, education, and cultural barriers create inequalities that make Latinx communities more vulnerable to food insecurity.
Latinxs were 2.5 times more likely to experience food insecurity than white individuals. Latinx children were more than twice as likely to live in food-insecure households as white children.
According to the Census, 1 in 6 Latinos live in poverty compared to 1 in 16 white people.
Food Insecurity In The LGBTQ+ Community
Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people experience high rates of poverty, joblessness, and homelessness, which drive risk for food insecurity.
More than 25% of LGBTQ+ adults (about 2.2 million people) did not have enough money for food for themselves or their families, at some point in the last year. This is compared to 17% of non-LGBTQ+ adults
More than 25% LGBT adults aged 18-44 participated in SNAP, compared to 20% of non-LGBT adults in the same age group.
In North Carolina, the disparity is even greater, with 47% of transgender respondents saying they faced food insecurity, compared to 12% of others; according to Feeding America, a nonprofit organization, about 14% of North Carolinians, including 20% of children in the state, faced hunger.
Within the transgender community, ethnic minorities face even greater disparities when it comes to food insecurity.
Resources
Effective responses to food insecurity must address the overlapping challenges posed by the social determinants of health (defined above). Click the links below to learn more about how to make and impact:
Work with Feeding America.
Find Mutual Aid networks.
Contact your representatives.
Stock a community fridge.
Volunteer at a food bank.
