Food Insecurity Research Papers

Food insecurity is defined as “limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.”1 Food insecurity data found that in America, 12.7% of households were food insecure at some point and 5% of households had very low food security in 2015.2 The prevalence of food insecurity in Ohio was greater than the national average in 2015, with 16.1% of households reporting food insecurity.2

Food insecurity is a determent to health that has become more prevalent in low-income areas of the country. Food security is an important aspect of public health in which greater evidence is showing that food insecurity as a direct link to poor health. Food insecurity can be define as “the inability to acquire or consume and adequate diet quality or sufficient quantity of

Food insecurity is best described as when people lack secure access to nutritious and sufficient nourishment

There are some of the most devastating situations in which a family cannot afford food with nutritional value, such as the healthy food that they need every day to survive. A perfect example of that is a term called “food insecurity.” Food insecurity is the term that you use for individuals who struggle to put healthy food on the table because of their financial needs, such as simply not being able to afford it. Families who are like this more often than most of the time result in obesity. Obesity occurs in these circumstances because they are only able to afford the foods with the cheapest prices and therefore incredibly low nutritional value. People who are food insecure are more likely to become obese than those who do not struggle with

When examining food insecurity appropriate measurement is critical to understanding the overall picture. Since 1995 the Current Population Survey (CPS) has had an annual food security supplement which has measurement of food spending, food consumption behaviors, and the utilization of nutrition assistance programs. The food security questions ask whether the behavior, spending, or assistance is because of a lack of economic resources, so that the questions can capture food insecurity. Food security with these measurement tools is measured at the household level, and allows for identification of food security status through a year (a 12 month reference period) and within thirty days (month reference period). With the 12 month measure one can measure the occasional occurrence of food insecurity, and with the 30 day

Nutrition is important for healthy life. Many people are still hungry around the world even though there is mass production of food. This is because of unhealthy food production. In today’s world we see many obese people because of high intake of high fat and cholesterol containing food. It is important to have a healthy diet/ nutritional intake for individuals to have good foundation for physical and mental health. Now a day’s healthy food is getting more expensive rather than unhealthy food. Poor people are forced to eat unhealthy food, while the rich can afford to eat whatever the please. Food insecurity is caused by individuals not having healthy food for their families due to their low income or political and

Witcombe, J., & Sanchez, J. (2004). Food systems and security helping the poor cope. Retrieved from http://www.id21.org/health/InsightsHealth5art3.html

Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to not know if you will be able to feed yourself or your family from month to month? Imagine putting yourself in the shoes of a father who gets paid 7 dollars and 25 cents an hour who spends so much money on housing, and medical bills for himself and his family that he is not sure if he can afford to feed himself along with his family. When I went to the Food Bank Community Service in Georgia I learned that 1 in 4 children in the state of Georgia are insecure which is a staggering number. While there is definitely a connection between food insecurity, and starvation it must be made clear that food insecurity is a situation where a particular family or household is struggling to supply itself with enough food to sustain itself while starvation is suffering due to hunger. Some of the many causes of food insecurity include, a low minimum wage, high housing costs, medical bankruptcy, and food desserts.

Hunger and food insecurity are big problems in America and all around the world. To understand food insecurity, one must know how it is defined. Food insecurity is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture as “a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.”(What 1) Hunger is not a new problem in America, and though the problem is still prevalent, the food insecurity rate among most Americans has decreased in recent years because of economic boosts (WorldHunger.org). Even though the economic boost has helped alleviate the overall problem, the increased expectations for how people spend their money and live their lives as consumers can also contribute to food insecurity. Some of the reasons that an individual or family would be food insecure are car repairs, medical bills, loss of income or other emergencies.(Valentine 1)

Food insecurity will unfortunately always be an issue within our nation to some degree. There will always be a demand for food banks, government assistance, and organizations fighting to alleviate the levels of hunger within our country. However, the misconceptions of those who experience food insecurity do not need to remain prevalent within our society. Knowledge of who is susceptible to food insecurity, why they are, and how we can help is fortunately spreading within mainstream media and even college classrooms. Furthermore, it is difficult to perceive something incorrectly once it has been understood firsthand, and being open minded towards issues that are so easy to prejudge is the first step in growing more compassionate towards all

The United States Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as a “lack of access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.” One significant factor that contributes to food insecurity is poverty. Given the relatively high cost of fresh produce and other healthy food, families living at or near the poverty line sometimes

Food insecurity is defined as not having consistent access to an amount of food that would help a person achieve an active, healthy life. In the United States, 1 in 8 Americans suffer from food insecurity. That is about 42 million people with 13 million of them being children. Food insecurity has some severe consequences on an individual’s body and mind. Lifelong impacts can come with this problem by affecting an individual’s physical health, personal well-being and stress levels. Adolescents living in food insecure homes have a higher rate of depression and anxiety which

Food insecurity is an ongoing issue all over the world; as of 2012 1 billion people are suffering from starvation and malnutrition. (Sasson, 2012, pg.1, paragraph 1) Why has food insecurity become such a problem not just locally, but globally? Olivier de Schutter, special rapporteur of the United Nations on the right to food says, “If most poor countries are still very vulnerable it is because their food security depends too much on food imports whose process are increasingly high an volatile.” (Sasson, 2012, pg. 3, Hunger: A Global Shame, paragraph 4)

Although these government programs do increase food security they have increased obesity and lower household quality of nutrition ((Li, Mills, Davis & Mykerezi 2014 & Nguyen, Shuvai, Bertmann, & Yaroch 2015). Nutritional value of a meal is not always due insufficient funds. Other reasons are: not enough time to cook or shop, lack of budgeting skills or nutrition knowledge, or buying non-perishable food due to transportation difficulties (Nguyen at el 2015). Food insecurity drops quickly with increased income, but this is only part of the story (Gundersen & Ziliak 2014). Other reasons such as: adult’s mental/physical health, education level, and parent relationships are factors. The financial shortfall was usually at the end of the month and these households were less skilled at shopping for

In the society that Americans live in, it is difficult for many to imagine what those who suffer from food insecurity experience on a daily basis. Those who do not suffer from food insecurity may not realize the impact a lack of healthy food can have on others. For those in the United States who are less fortunate in this aspect of life, every single day can be a struggle. Food is something that they always crave, but they have no security in knowing when they will be receiving it.