Food Insecurity Issues

Diverse groups in American society are often the most marginalized and therefore the most vulnerable to issues that undermine the fair and uncomplicated pursuit of health and wellbeing. One of those issues is the lack of access to affordable healthy food and, in many cases, the inaccessibility to food in general. Areas where affordable and healthy foods are largely unavailable are called food deserts and the members of the diverse groups that live in such areas or that have access to very little food at all often develop a sense of food insecurity. One of the groups that is increasingly impacted by food deserts and food insecurity is the nation’s elderly population which is, by most standards, defined as those individuals aged 65 and older. The following paper investigates this phenomenon by addressing the elderly population of Ada County, Idaho as representative of this diverse and often disenfranchised population. The paper investigates the issue of food deserts and food insecurity that threaten the health and wellbeing of the elderly in the context of the various elements of social determinants of health that contribute to their development and persistence. The paper also includes proposals for individual and population-based strategies to improve access to healthy and affordable food by this population as well as improve the health and wellbeing of its members.

Over 8.2 million seniors over the age 60 face the threat of food insecurity, up 78% from a decade ago affecting one in seven seniors. The rise in food insecurity is primarily seen among senior Americans with income less than $30,000 or one to two times the poverty level. Younger seniors between the ages 60-69 are becoming more likely to become food insecure than older adults, due to early retirements and not being able to rely on Social Security or Medicare until they reach 65. Elder malnourished patients experience 2 to 20 times more complications and 100% longer hospital stays. Good nutrition is vital to helping America’s 34 million seniors to stay healthy,

Research show that in 2013, over 9.5% of seniors over the age of sixty-five lived in poverty with the percentage increasing as an individual’s age increases (McNeal, 2016). These statistics does not account for the other issues which affects families and caretakers when addressing the well-being of their loved ones and the inadequate access to long term care.

The United States is experiencing social issues related to food insecurity and hunger. Current research states that older adults are especially vulnerable to food insecurity. In a study published in the Journal of Urban Health states, “Among the 14.6% of American households experiencing food insecurity, approximately 2 million are occupied by older adults” (Chung, Gallo, Giunta, Canavan, Parikh, & Fahs, 2011, p. 1). Since the year 2011 the Athens Community Council on Aging reports, “Almost 9 million older adults in the United States are at risk for hunger, and Georgia is 8th in state rankings for older adult risk of hunger” (2014, p. 1). Fortunately, in North America, hunger seldom reaches

Food insecurity is one of the leading public health challenges in the United States today, since millions of people (children and adults) are food insecure because of insufficient money income and other socioeconomic and demographic factors. (Seligman, Kushel, & Laraia, 2010)

Food insecurity remains to be a current problem that is defined as the limited access to food due to low income. In 2012, approximately one million Canadian households were classified as food insecure. Certain groups such as, Aboriginals and single mothers, are at higher risk for food insecurity compared to other groups.

Elderly people (women and men age sixty-five or older) (Macionis, 2005), Have many obstacles to face as they grow older, many of these obstacles involve social inequality. Not only do the elderly have to learn to deal with many forms of Ageism (the stereotyping and prejudice against individuals or groups because of their age), some also have to deal with the fact that they do not have enough savings or pension benefits to be self supporting, for most people over sixty-five, the major source of income is social security (Macionis, 2005). This forces many elderly Americans back into the workforce to continue to earn money to support themselves and or spouses. Although many elderly Americans may choose

In just Sacramento alone, for one single senior, their income is only $11,400. They can’t get stuff needed with such little money, and can’t pay for medical bills either, because as you get older of course health deteriorates. Sacramento has about 520,000 Seniors and 28,000 of those Seniors are considered poor. Another crazy fact is most seniors in poverty are women, single women. Those Seniors living in poverty don’t have any control of the costs of food, housing costs or prescriptions that may be needed which makes it hard when there is only one source of income coming in. It is a strict budget. Elders don’t want to have to rely on their children because they don’t want to be a burden. Elders are 20% below the normal threshold, which $16,000 annually, and this is because of the high cost of living, i.e; health care and housing. A single adult with mortgage in San Jose, California is about $16,500, which is about $5,300 higher than the official poverty threshold. According to the KFF 28% of elder Hispanics, 22% of elder Black/ African Americans, 41% of elder Whites and the other 9% of elders lived in poverty in 2013, now, being 2016, that number has risen. In 2013, the KFF found that with increased age, came increased poverty. They also found that the poverty rate was higher for women than men at the age of 65 and that poverty was higher in Hispanics/ Latinos and Blacks/ African Americans rather than White

First and foremost, despite slight recent increases in the amount of income obtained by members of the older population, their economic status is still quite perilous (Federal Interagency Forum, 2012).1 Men in this category have a median income of $27,707, while women continue to lag behind with a median income of $15,362 (AOA & AOCL, 2012). A vast majority of these individuals cite Social Security as their primary source for this income, amounting to 86-percent of the total older population (AOA & AOCL,

In the last five years there has been a growth in the level of food insecurity among the aging population. In 2012 15.3% of the aging faced a threat of food insecurity. Further from 2001 to 2012 there was a 44% increase in the aging population experiencing hunger (Ziliak & Gundersen, 2013). In 2008 8.1% of households with an elderly individual living in the residence were food insecure, and 8.8% of the elderly living alone were food insecure (Coleman-Jenson, Nord, Andrews, & Carlson, 2009). After a dip in 2010 rates of food insecurity among the aging there was an increase in food insecurity among households with the elderly present and households of the elderly living alone (Coleman-Jenson, Nord, Andrews, & Carlson, 2011; Coleman-Jensen, Nord, & Singh; 2012, 2013). 2013 8.7% of households with elderly individuals were food insecure (Coleman-Jensen, Gregory, & Singh, 2014; Ziliak & Gundersen, 2014). Research has shown food insecurity leads to the reduction of nutritionally sufficient diets and poorer health status, thus this growth in food insecurity for the elderly is troubling as the elderly are already at risk for poor health outcomes (Lee & Frongillo, 2001; Stuff, et al., 2004).

Hunger is considered huge issue in the United States. When it comes to managing food sources, it is easy to get predications from children based on their immediate experiences of food rather than parental reports that rely mostly on the economic value such as mother, households etc.… because such predications for instance, cannot be more accurate as children express their felling just in daily basis. In the published article at San Diego State University on February 20.2017, "Children Are Aware of Food Insecurity and Take Responsibility for Managing Food Resources’’. Farm et al made extensive research about this important topic, and wrote surveys addressing their reports after the information they collected from the

In 2007, nearly six million senior citizens in America faced the threat of hunger. Today more than 9.3 million seniors over the age of 60 are struggling with hunger and the numbers are continually rising (Schilling, 2010). Many of our nation’s seniors live on limited incomes and have tremendous difficulty in making ends meet. Staples such as eggs, bread and milk costs are rapidly rising. Utility costs are soaring. Many seniors are finding themselves paying more for medical care and many are finding themselves in financial trouble and cannot keep up with the cost of living. Due to declining health issues, high medical bills greatly reduces their income and some often find themselves choosing between medication and food. Malnutrition is one of the greatest contributors to costly hospital stays and nursing home admissions. In 2014, there were over 4,800 seniors in Scioto County, Ohio over the age of 65 living below the poverty line and facing the threat of hunger (Scioto County Commissioners, 2016).

Dr. Terry Leahy, Lecturer in sociology and anthropology at the University of Newcastle, spoke about establishing food security in rural South and South Eastern Africa. He particularly focused on current projects and the role of permaculture in addressing food insecurity.

In our current economic crisis, many people have had to make tough choices and have ended up unable to provide food for themselves and the ones they love. In Florida, we are faced with an alarming number of people who are hungry without a secure source of food for themselves and their families.

One of most common problems in the world is food insecurity. It is not only happening in the third world countries, but it is also happening in the richest country in world, the USA. Food insecurity occurs when a family does not have enough food for all family members. The USDA confirms that 12.7 percent of U.S households are suffering from food insecurity. Food insecurity can be of two kinds: low food insecurity and very low food insecurity. In low insecurity households, family members just eat enough calories for their body, but their food is not nutritious. Low food insecurity makes up 7.4 percent of 12.7 of food insecurity households in the U.S, (USDA). The other type is very low food insecurity. The family members do not have enough food at specific times in the year because they lack money. This type makes up 4.9 percent out of 12.7 percent in the food insecurity, (USDA). Food insecurity most often happens in the households with children, especially households with children headed by a single man or a single woman. The USDA estimates that households with children headed by single woman have 31.6 percent chance of experiencing low food insecurity, and households with children headed by a single man have 21.7 percent chance for low food insecurity. The South has highest rate of food insecurity with 13.5 percent. The rate of food insecurity in the Northeast (10.8 percent) is lower than Midwest (12.2 percent). The rate of food insecurity according to states in the three