Americas feel all superior to other countries because we have freedom, civil disobedience, and are given all the necessities to prosper. If so, why are American who live in the lower income areas has a shortage of healthy foods at their disposal? Kristy Blackwood and Iris Mansour acknowledge the clear fact to why a called a first-world country has millions of people struggle with not having the access to the suitable food to help combat the issue of obesity in the nation. In “Transforming Food Deserts and Swamps to Fight Obesity” an article that appeared in The Huffington Post, by journalist Kristy Blackwood argue how access to healthy produces in not prevalent in low-income neighborhoods, which are highly dominated by Blacks and …show more content…
Mansour feel as if healthier choices is presented to these communities it wouldn’t guarantee that the residents will have a better diet. Although both Blackwood and Mansour identify a major problem suffer by low-income peoples in the country, having no access to prominent foods resulting in obesity, Blackwood invests in telling the audience of what is being done to combat this issue with her optimistic view point that it can be solved. On the other hand, Mansour chooses to focus on the fact that low-income people are suffering hardship from distance from others Americans who have the supermarkets in arm’s reach making her argument more pessimistic. Both articles, make me question how a country can be known as the first-world country yet, not able to take extreme measure to give all people the adequate amount of nutrition to keep them healthy and persuade me to rethink the integrity of our nation as a whole.
Both Kristy Blackwood and Iris Mansour presents to the readers that they’re well knowledgeable on the issue of forest desert, which lower economic people in the world from having the great privilege as other with access to healthy food. They want the general audience to be aware that even though our country is a first world country, it is inescapable that food
(Love & Das, 2016, para. 7). However, Love and Das (2016) expound on the inefficiency of this solution by stating that it “does not bridge the gaps to healthy food” because of their inability to invest in the community and understand their needs (para 12). Using vivid language throughout the article, the authors make their point emotionally impactful by emphasizing that big-chain grocery stores “lur[ed…] to the hood” leave when they no longer profit from maintaining a store in these neighborhoods (Love & Das, 2016, para. 9). Rightfully criticizing the existing solution, the authors expose the superficiality and inefficient manner of only bringing in more stores into neighborhoods. Moreover, by criticizing the superficiality of the existing solution, the authors suggest that eliminating food deserts involves a more personal investment into the betterment of the community. Overall, Love and Das permit the readers to gain an emotional insight on the impact food deserts have on low-income populations and understand the limiting nutrition conditions by appealing to
After including additional keywords (fast food earnings, food oppression, food insecurity, minorities and low income paired with initial keywords and searching the reference lists of those articles already found, an additional search yielded a plethora of articles to choose from , some of which were actual research studies and others that were descriptive articles or summaries. The three articles in this review are the ones I found most profoundly supported my main arguments in my thesis statement. The research used to support my arguments employed qualitative methods for obtaining data which was supported by statistical information, professional and educational sources and articles from scholarly sources (Freeman, A. (2007); Adler, N. E., & Stewart, J. (2009); Kumanyika, S. & Grier, S., (2006). Kumanyika, S. & Grier, S., (2006), looks at obesity from the perspective of the government’s role in the situation, or lack thereof a presence in combating situations where they know people are getting taken advantage of through heavy influence from lobbyist groups. Adler, N. E., & Stewart, J. (2009), looks at the situations surrounding lifestyle choices, for example the availability of low cost foods, access to quick processed items versus nutritious ones and the poor quality of areas in these coined phrase, food deserts. Freeman, A. (2007), looks at the corporations and governments angle at keeping this an ongoing epidemic and ways in which they
Obesity rates in the US are rising due to food insecurity. One in six people in the U.S. are food insecure, while two-thirds of adults and one-third Americans are overweight or obese.14 Studies have found that wealthy districts have three times as many supermarkets compared to the poor.15 Kevin Conocannon of the USDA noted in an interview that people in poorer areas sometimes have narrower variety of food options.16 SNAP recipients face barriers to achieving nutritious diets due to lack of availability in their neighborhood. Healthy food often comes with higher costs, so most people with lower income result to eating foods with lower cost and higher calories. According to a 2009 report by the USDA, as many as 23.5 million Americans live more than one mile from a supermarket with limited access to a vehicle.17 Food Deserts are particularly prevalent in low-income communities.18
For centuries, the United States has been seen as a food and food-product paradise; with a constant bombardment of daily specials, “two-for-one” deals, and never ending combo options oozing from every corner of the food-scape. For many Americans, over indulgence is a frequent occurrence-studies show more than 50% of adults say they eat out at least once a week (“58% Eat at A Restaurant”, 2013). Even in this scene of gluttony, the poverty stricken and systematically oppressed find themselves in food deserts across The States; that’s more than 45 million Americans without access to healthy, reasonably priced foodstuffs. Of this group of 45 million, the African American community holds the seat for the highest poverty rate among various racial and ethnic groups at an astounding 26.2% in 2014 (DeNavas-Walt, 2015).
Individuals of higher income levels often have private insurance that allows them to see a physician on a regular basis. These individuals are able to prevent many diseases before they exacerbate. They often eat low fat diets or plant based diets. They are educated on their nutritional health and often make better choices when choosing the different types foods to eat. Due to their income, they can afford to eat healthy food and make healthy food choices. Even though these individuals may be predisposed to certain diseases, their diets prevent them from becoming prevalent in their lives. Due to the individual’s socioeconomic status they make enough money that they don’t stress about the necessities in life. These individuals live in areas such as Roswell, Johns Creek. Alpharetta, Buckhead, Kennesaw, and Stockbridge. Individuals of a poor economic status have limited access to healthcare. These individuals often have Medicaid, Medicare, or no health insurance at all. They often eat diets that are high in fat. Individuals of poor economic status aren’t often educated about eating healthy. They often eat unhealthy because it is too expensive to eat healthy. These individuals often receive government subsidiaries such as WIC and SNAP benefits for themselves and their children. There aren’t many healthy food stores if any at all in these neighborhoods. Stores such as Whole Foods, Sprout, and Trader Joe’s aren’t located in poverty stricken communities because the individuals can’t afford the prices. It is a disadvantage that the grocery chains in the neighborhood don’t offer the resident a healthier option. Individuals of poor economic status often fight chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and often cancer. They often live sedentary lifestyles that contribute to these diseases. They eat diets that are high in red meats one that contributes to
All food should be available to all people. The concept of this is dwelled on in the article, “Food justice and Food retail in Los Angeles” by Mark Valliantos. Throughout the article, Valliantos maintains the notion that healthy food should be within everyone’s reach, yet inner cities are still suffering from shortages of fresh produce. To see this issue in action, Valliantos documented this reoccurring phenomenon in Los Angeles. The author gives a description of two areas within the city of Los Angeles, and how they are economically divided based on the amount of healthy produce one has at its disposal. He makes note of programs that already exist to help low income families receive healthy foods that they could not afford. He also
Americans today are no strangers to stretching every dollar earned in an attempt to live the American dream. Most people work long hours and eat on the fly with very little thought to what, or where, the food they have purchased came from. The reason food is so inexpensive has not been a concern to the average American, but the article written by Michael Pollan “The Food Movement Rising” attempts to convince the people that it is time to remove the blinders and take an accounting of the situation that America finds itself in. With obesity at epic proportions, and preventable diseases like
Many areas in the United States contain an abundance of neighborhoods that function with little to no healthy food sources nearby because of the large number of people in poverty. With the fleeing number of locally owned grocery stores and convenient fast food restaurants sprouting in urban and rural areas, residents do not have an adequate quantity of fruits and vegetables readily available. The City of Baltimore defines a food desert as “an area where the distance to a supermarket is more than one quarter of a mile; the median household income is at or below 185 percent of the Federal Poverty Level; over 30 percent of households have no vehicle available; and the average Healthy Food Availability Index score [convenience stores, corner stores, and supermarkets] is low” (Food Deserts). Baltimore City today “ranks second among similarly sized cities for the number of low-income people living in food insecure areas” (Freishtat, 2014). Leaving eight percent of white Baltimoreans living in food deserts compared to the 35 percent of black Baltimoreans, and 30 percent of children living in food deserts in Baltimore alone (Buczynski, 2015).
A proponderance of statistics derived from scholarly sources corroborates the notion that minorities who have a low socioeconomic position or have an significantly low income suffers many atrocious health disparities this includes obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases thus projecting a direct correlation between the two variables. In addition, minorities, specifically African-Americans that live in low income neighborhoods have less access to fresh, healthy and organic foods. In particular, supermarkets are sparse in their area and sometimes is not within walking distance or within the vicinity of their homes. On the flipside, these neighborhoods have the highest levels of fast-food restaurants and convenient stores. These barriers
Individuals who live in low-income areas have to rely heavily on fast food and cheap food from convenience stores because it is the only food close and affordable to them. People in poor neighborhoods are, “Confronted with a high concentration of poor diet choices” and, “End up eating a less healthy diet” because, “Few markets” offer, “Fresh fruit and vegetables” (Cortright 1). Even if
Granderson discusses various facts in which this issue is obvious like “the 10 poorest states being among the 10 fattest” but the citizens choose to either ignore it or rely on the government to try to fix it. For example Mississippi, the poorest state in the country that is also the fattest (Granderson). According to Granderson, the only reason why poverty leads to obesity is because healthy food is just too expensive. He compares turkey breast and ground beef, where turkey is more expensive but leaner and ground beef is cheaper and provides more calories. Granderson talks about the government’s attempt at fixing the issue with “Michelle Obama’s campaign to get healthier foods into poor neighborhoods” (Granderson). The results concluded that the food offered at neighborhoods was not the cause of obesity leading Granderson to say that “That may be true” but that the price of the food is the real problem. He says that one-dollar can get you more potato chips than fruits. In addition, Granderson discusses his own experience in a family of five where a seven-dollar difference between healthy and fattening food was something they didn’t have and says “when we did get it, it was used for the cheapest food available”. According to Granderson “42% of Americans are projected to be obese” almost half of the country. Michelle Obama was accused by the government of “politicizing the healthy food conversation” but Granderson wishes that it was politicized where the taxpayers money was no longer used for paying 75% of 49 billion unpaid hospital bills for people who have health problems due to this issue, but instead invested in attempting to actually fix the issues that are lowering life expectancies and resulting in “ Type 2 diabetes
According to a New York Times article, Michelle Obama once stated, “In so many neighborhoods, if people want to buy a head of lettuce or salad or some fruit for their kid’s lunch, they have to take two or three buses, maybe pay for a taxicab, in order to do it” (Kolata). She was referring to the food deserts in the several low-income neighborhoods within the city of Chicago. Mrs. Obama has also advocated in getting schools to serve healthier lunches, as part to reduce childhood obesity within these neighborhoods. Studies done in the past have shown that limited access to healthy food and rather easier access to less nutritious food may be linked to poor diets and, ultimately, to obesity and diet-related diseases. Even when these food deserts do have access to nearby convenience stores, it tends to be either overpriced or low-quality food, which carry mostly processed foods that offer little-to-no nutritional value, when compared to the food and products that supermarkets have to offer.
The grim diabetic prevalence further indicates that such external influences of food deserts and oppression determine the health of vulnerable populations. Native Americans living in Cuba, New Mexico were forced to shop for groceries are liquor stores and Walmart until recent public health campaigns advocated for access to fruits and vegetables. However, a key determinant of this accessibility is financial stability. Native Americans are disproportionately unemployed and accounted for less than one percent of the U.S. labor force in 2011 (Statistics, 2012). Without access to job opportunities, one’s access to nutrition and education about the significance of nutrition is threatened. It is well documented that physiological and metabolic health is attributed to frequent exercise and consumption of sufficient nutrients. However, the societal assumption of widespread understanding is tremendously ignorant, particularly considering the severe educational deficit Native Americans
Block, J. P., & Subramanian, S. V. (2015). Moving Beyond "Food Deserts": Reorienting United States Policies to Reduce Disparities in Diet Quality. Plos Medicine, 12(12), 1-9. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001914
In the article, “ Gap in Diet Quality Between Wealthiest and Poorest Americans Doubles, Study Finds,” by Tracie McMillan, we see how Americans gain weight and become obese.