Food Insecurity In America

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Struggling to Eat in Rural Areas During the 1930’s when the Great Depression hit the United States, it left thousands of workers unemployed, making hunger get significant attention. The article “Hunger and Food Insecurity” by Food System Primer says that the depression left a “quarter of the American workforce unemployed” and that’s when the words “food insecurity” became more heard of and to the point experienced by many people. To this day, there are still many households and individuals who experience food insecurity. The term food insecurity is the lack of regular access to food that provides enough nutrition for a healthy lifestyle. It can cause many health problems, which include obesity, chronic illnesses, and hunger. Hunger itself can …show more content…
Food deserts are defined as being greater than 10 miles away from a supermarket in a rural area, for an urban area it’s being a mile or greater away. Food deserts result in trouble with transportation, food insecurity, and health problems which include obesity, diabetes, and diseases. This is all due to the difficulty of obtaining food and not receiving the right nutrients. The article “Food Insecurity In The U.S. By Numbers” by Christianna Silva states that “rural areas are slightly more likely to be food deserts than urban areas and, according to Feeding America, while they make up just 63% of counties in the country, they make up 87% of counties with the highest rates of food insecurity.” This proves that food deserts are more than twice as likely to occur in rural areas. The lack of markets in these areas means convenience stores are a go-to for many families, but they lack fresh and healthy options. If food programs were to be the main focus in these rural counties, it would target the main problem instead of areas where there are already many other programs helping out. In rural markets, the price of food is higher compared to in suburban …show more content…
What many programs don't keep in mind is that in rural areas there are higher poverty rates because jobs “often pay low wages and don’t offer full-time hours” according to Feeding America. Many people have to work multiple jobs to be able to afford basic necessities, including food. According to the article by Feeding America, another reason why hunger is more common in rural areas is due to “people of color in rural areas are more likely to face hunger due to long-term inequalities affecting food access.” The article gives examples of this, like how Black people in these areas are 2.5 percent more likely to face food insecurity and Native Americans face the most hunger in these areas. NPR’s article says that Blacks and Hispanics have the highest percentages of facing food insecurity when it comes to food deserts. Ultimately, despite the admirable help from food programs, rural areas are still being affected significantly more and therefore should get more help from food programs than urban