Research paper final

.docx

School

Temple University *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

0812

Subject

English

Date

Dec 6, 2023

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by AgentVulturePerson813

Name: Antawn James Date: 3/16/23 Instructor: Robert Wasilewski Course: English 802 INTRO: There has been a lot of talks about what makes a neighborhood sustainable. Some people may say that if the place has somewhere you can eat and drink and has a decent means of living it is sustainable. Others say that having just those conditions does not mean that they are living in a sustainable community. My take on this is that in order to have a sustainable community you need access to fresh foods and the means to make it if you are far away from it. In Pittsburgh there is a problem we have known as food apartheid which I will go more into detail about in this paper showing statistics and how this can affect ones health. Background: The work that I have chosen to write about is about how animal habitats help address food apartheid from happening protecting urban gardens and/or farms. This is important because this is a problem that has been around for a while and although we have been talking about it, there needs to be more awareness about how it really affects us on a personal level. I will be talking about this in an aim to spread awareness about how the relationship between animal habitats and urban gardens improves food distribution, reduces cost barriers to obtaining healthy food, and encourages the growth of food within the area. food Insecurity has been a grave issue nationwide. According to the U.S Department of Agriculture or the USDA, food insecurity is defined as “a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.” That is the U. S’s way of saying, a family that is food insecure does not have access to nutritious food because of their socio-economic status. Usually, this family routinely must choose between paying for food and other necessities, reducing portions, or skipping meals entirely. According to the Department of Planning of Pittsburgh in 2017 , 21.4% of Pittsburghers are food insecure. That is 1 in 5 Pittsburghers. We are currently facing a 42% increase in those who are food insecure since 2018. In 2018, that number was 260,000, but now, that number is 370,000. This is an issue because barriers to fresh healthy food leads to higher rates in heart disease and adult diabetes, which especially affects vulnerable populations like low-income people and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color). The problem is not that the stores are not near low-income people, but that there are systemic economic disparities, poverty, and oppressions that have caused food apartheids to exist in the first place.

Definitions: Before we move forward, it is essential for our language to reflect on the actual situation. As Dara Cooper, a food justice activist and co-founder of the National Black Food and Justice Alliance, puts it “definitions are important because whoever gets to define a problem, gets to define its solution.” A food desert is not the same thing as food apartheid. According to the USDA, a food desert is a neighborhood that lacks healthy food sources. According to Ayanna Jones, an activist, and community garden founder in Homewood, “People not having food, is not a natural occurrence.” It also implies that the neighborhood itself is baren and lacks life and vibrancy. That is not true because People who live in so-called "food deserts” love their neighborhoods and neighbors and would never refer to them community in this way. It is a term imposed by outsiders. So, what should we call neighborhoods that lack access to fresh foods and grocery stores to no fault of their own? We call it a Food Apartheid. Cooper defines a food apartheid as, “A systemic destruction of Black self-determination to control one’s food through hyper-saturation of destructive foods, predatory marketing, and blatant discriminatory corporate controlled food systems.” Food apartheid is a much more accurate representation of the structural racialized inequities perpetuated through our current system. This term recognizes that putting grocery stores in these communities cannot be the only solution. It must start with equity across the board – job creation, education and other opportunities in areas that have traditionally been and currently are ignored. DATA: When thinking about what this information looks like in Pittsburgh, it is important to highlight where these trends of

food apartheid, health complications, social issues, and economic disparities overlap. These maps were provided through the FeedPGH Report in 2020. The map to your left highlights the percentage of those who live below the poverty line. Pinker areas highlight low percentages, while darkest Ares represent high percentages. The map to your right shows the percentages of households with no vehicles in relation to where grocery stores are. Green represents Grocery Stores and yellow dots represent Ethnic Markets and convenient stores. You can see that these areas in each map overlaps. These maps hint at food insecurity and food deserts These maps highlight the levels of health issues between Adult Diabetes and Heart Disease. These places overlap as well and are the effects of food insecurity and food deserts.

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help