Food Insecurity In America Essay Example

The United States is the globe’s biggest and maximum green manufacturer. American agriculture generates the most with capita meal manufacturing withinside the globe. The country enjoys particularly advanced markets and distribution structures to get meals to consumers. With those apparent blessings in food production, distribution, and balance of governments and markets, the life of starvation withinside the United States is perplexing, if now no longer unbelievable. There is, perhaps, no country on the earth higher ready to dispose of the hassle of starvation amongst its populace, but the USA has not done so.  An abundant amount of households are capable of locating and acquiring enough nutritional and affordable food, also known as Food Security. However, unfortunately, there is a handful of people in the United States that have experienced hunger (long-term lack of food) due to their financial status. That handful of people makes up about 10.5% of the U.S or about 13 million Americans. Many of them have to decide whether they will have food on their plate or skip a meal to pay rent or utilities. Food insecurity does not necessarily cause hunger, but hunger is a possible outcome of food insecurity. (Carleson, 1999) Food Insecurity is divided into 2 types, Low and Very Low Food Security. Low Food Security can be defined as, “Little or no indication of reduced food intake.” Whereas Very Low Food Security refers to, “ Indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.” There are many ongoing factors as to why this has been a historical and current issue in the United States today. The people facing this issue are low-income households, POC families, children, senior citizens, and people with disabilities. 

Food insecurity has been a historical and ongoing issue in America today. It wasn’t notable until the early 19th century which is when the Great Depression hit. In 1929, millions of Americans lost their jobs making many families have no income to rely on. They were not economically stable, therefore they were not capable of buying food for themselves and their families. It was then common to see many people fighting over scraps of food from the garbage to provide food for their families.  During this time soup kitchens were helping those in need by feeding millions of hungry children, women, and men. Due to this, it marked the first widespread hunger in the United States. 

Just like the Great Depression, the 2020 Pandemic was one of the reasons that people were food insecure. People lost their jobs and stayed home leading to having no income. This was also the time when the U.S food supply chain was disrupted. Before the pandemic, 11% of U.S. households were reported to be food insecure, Which is approximately 38 million Americans.

Due to the pandemic, household food insecurity rose to 18%, estimated to be about 63 million Americans. Today, the pandemic continues to affect the world with hunger. The number has risen double the amount pre-pandemic to 276 million people. It is continuing to rise because according to the World Food Program, it is said to rise to 323 million by the end of 2022. 

One of the main causes of food insecurity is low income. Low-Income households often encounter food insecurity because their income isn’t sufficient to pay for food, rent, transportation, medical care, and other necessities. Some low-income neighborhoods have limited access to full-service grocery stores. There are also communities that lack affordable and nutritional food which is called a food desert. These stores have higher food prices, lower quality foods, and less variety.