Food Insecurity in America Essay Example

Food insecurity affects about forty million individuals in the United States, making it one of the country's most serious health and nutrition challenges. Which begs the question: why IS there hunger in America? One would think a developed nation like the US would not struggle so greatly with this issue, but food insecurity appears to be the result of various underlying factors that have grown over time. There have been initiatives to reduce the number of food-insecure households, but they all are temporary solutions to a long-term problem. More than 42 million Americans, including 200,000 mothers, benefit from federal programs like SNAP and WIC; programs that were put in place to connect people with food and end hunger. The problem with these programs is that they are difficult to get into in the first place; real-life participants recount the application procedure and the outrageous policies that came with them, "deterring” (Rae Gomes). Statistics comparing how the country dealt with food insecurity in the 2000s, 2010s, to now, presently reveal no significant difference.  

Hunger. Nutrition is critical for living a long and healthy life, so, how does this issue exist? The obvious circumstances around its occurrence are easily guessed, but the deeper causes are far more complex. If there is a chance for the US to lower food insecurity, it must start with how people get food insecure to begin with because, “hunger is not an isolated problem, but the product of much larger economic inequality driven by low wages”8 . The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, which is not a livable wage; hundreds of families are living paycheck to paycheck due to circumstances beyond their control. Those who could not make it through the "struggling" lifestyle were forced to become homeless, but they are penalized just as much on the streets as they would be in a house; they can't win in a place they were not welcome in to begin with. Those who did turn to the government for help would be harassed or find themselves destitute on the streets1. During COVID-19, recertifications were paused so people wouldn’t have to continuously refile for SNAP7. Although great news, it begged the question of whether recertifications and all the other strenuous requirements were necessary in the first place. 

The trial-and-error process that is the federally funded program SNAP, is not simply something you read about; it affects people's lives. Nickel and Dimed (2011 Version)1, focuses on three real-life experiences of what people went through when they were food insecure; "Melissa," a Wal-Mart employee, saw her pay increase from $7 to $10, while her husband lost his job. "Caroline" had been working as a maid and a caterer after leaving her husband. The Parentes lost their jobs, were injured, and their children were begging for food. Surprisingly, when the recession arrived, their lifestyles remained unchanged; they had become accustomed to it and were already buried in their own depression. Simply being in a case worker's office can leave you frustrated, or worse, arrested; Jazmine Headly, who was violently torn from her child in a viral video and arrested for sitting on the floor while waiting for benefits, said that her experience shed light on “the story of many other people, it’s not just my story”. The already harsh policy was intensifyed after the Linda Taylor situation, an issue so grave policy makers described it as, “a symbol of rampant fraud, the lazy Black woman, luxuriating on the government dime, while everyone else worked so hard” 7. What had actually happened was that a Black mother was denied the medical treatment she required and was forced to turn to more unusual means of earning money in order to survive and protect her family, even if it meant committing “welfare fraud”, This would not have happened if the process had not been so onerous to begin with.  

The reason why America is making little progress is the simple fact that they refuse to learn from their past mistakes, and statistics prove that. There has been a heavy reliance on emergency/temporary financing to food banks, rather than extending the benefits of SNAP, which has seen a 13 percent rise in participation6,8. Of course, providing food to those in need is beneficial, but making a strong push for greater SNAP benefits would be a significant addition to this plan. SNAP reduces poverty and hardship while encouraging healthy eating; if more households sign up, the quantity of assistance provided should rise as well.  

To summarize, food insecurity is an issue that persists because America ignores the root causes; the programs put in place are beneficial, but only for a limited time. There have been far too many examples of families who have been let down by the so-called solutions available to them to help their families. T. If this country is to find a solution to its hunger problem, it must address its poverty, racial discrimination, and classism problems simultaneously.