Argumentative Essay On Soul Food

Ingredients and recipes for cooking soul food change for varies reasons. Numerous slaves could not read or write, so the recipes were passed along orally. Additionally, soul food cooking changes from region to region dependent upon on settler impact and ingredients special to a particular region. For instance, low country soul food generally alludes to an area along South Carolina's coast. Ingredients special to South Carolina's coast are rice, crabs, oysters, shrimp, and sweet potatoes. In Louisiana, Gumbo is customarily a New Orleans Creole dish. The primary ingredient is okra, or quingombo, a native African plant. Creole food has also been impacted by the Spanish, French, Caribbean and Native Americans settlers (Rhyne, 2015).

Studies have shown that healthy diets rich in fruits, vegetables, fish and nuts cost $550 more per year than more unhealthy diets (rich in processed foods, meats, and refined grains) for a person. Such costs can be substantial for lower-income families, as US government grants for the poor are hardly enough to cover meal costs – the average Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program payments amount to under $1.50 per meal. In addition, affordable yet nutritious food is harder to obtain in poorer neighbourhoods, especially for those without an automobile. With geographical and economic barriers, healthy meals are simply just out of reach for these families and it has been shown that children from lower-income households are more likely to be obese than higher-income

The lack of access to and availability of health food has always been a Public Health issue, affecting many lives, particularly the underserved population. The presence of small corner stores in inner cities that carry unhealthy food items has been linked with increased risk of chronic diseases and obesity. The inner cities in New York with low-income and minority communities have a large number of corner stores in close proximity to the neighborhoods and fewer number of grocery stores as well as supermarkets at a distance from the neighborhood. The owners of the corner stores in the inner city neighborhoods have very limited knowledge about the health benefits associated with the consumption of highly nutritious food. They are also unaware of the health consequences associated with the consumption of unhealthy food. Without any knowledge about health and food, these corner stores are simply

Do you believe that food is an important factor in the everyday human life? Yes. A simple answer. Food is important because it can nourish the body, or it can poison the body and hinder it. A popular debate that rages continuously within the African American community is if soul food is actually bad for a person or not. The debate has migrated to non-blacks who consumed southern foods and soul foods regularly. There is supporting evidence on both sides of the battlefield, and everyone is entitled to their own opinions. However, through scientific research and reason, it explains that soul food in fact bad for one’s health just as some people believe. However, before we are able to understand the benefits and drawbacks of something, we have to know what it is.

The first way to improve health in the nation is for the government to set regulations. “About 20 percent of children are already overweight or obese before they enter school, and rates are even higher among low-income children” (Committee, 2011:ix). The government needs to regulate Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs. Healthy food is more expense than unhealthy food. Instead of S.N.A.P. offering specific amounts of money to purchase food with, it should offer specific amounts of healthy food that meet the dietary needs of each family member. This

These efforts to improve health have sparked a beginning to The Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which is a public-private partnership that has leveraged over $1 billion to support over 200 projects in over 30 states since 2011 to improve access to healthy foods in low-income communities. Pilot studies for the Philadelphia Healthy Corner Store Initiative, now bringing healthier products to over 600 corner stores, showed a 60% increase in the sales of fresh produce. In addition, they demonstrated increased local economic activity and jobs and generation of local tax revenue (Heiman, Artiga 2015). The social impact on obesity continues to challenge the health care systems and must be recognized that all aspects of well-being play a major role a more positive

In today's society individuals from poverty stricken areas have a more difficult time cooking and eating healthy foods for themselves and their families. Various factors contribute to this problem, such as worrying about other things, essentially, safety in locations with high crime. Not only safety but convenience. If healthy options are not provided in poor areas, it takes time to go out of the way to spend money on healthier products that people may or may not be able to afford. For instance, Anne Harding writes “ People who live in poorer neighborhoods in the U.S. are less likely to have easy access to supermarkets carrying a wide variety of fresh produce and other healthy food, an analysis of 54 studies confirms,” this study supports the idea that poor people don’t eat as well as higher-income families. That is not only a theory, but a fact. Not only do lower-income families not have access to healthy grocery stores, but they have plenty of fast food restaurants, and a wide variety of other unhealthy options. Some individuals believe a solution to this problem is as simple as putting healthy grocery stores in impoverished areas. In “Can Whole Foods Change the Way Poor People Eat?,” Tracie McMillian explores this idea by doing her own research on the store Whole Foods, and personally interviewing several families from Detroit, Michigan. McMillian uses ethos, pathos, and logos to argue that in order to solve health issues for people in poverty, we must do more than place

Have you ever eaten taco’s or a salad and you’re hungry 2 hours later? For the same price you paid for the taco’s or salad, you could’ve bought something with more substance that would have made you feel full until your next meal. When you’re hungry again you probably think that it’s too soon to eat a meal again so you munch on some snacks. If you’re busy doing something else you probably wouldn’t realize just how much you’re actually eating and before you knew it an entire bag of chips are gone, you’re still hungry and it’s still not the time for your next meal. The goal for impoverished families is quantity, not quality. The goal is to have enough food for everyone in the house. When they choose quality it’s usually for their

Studies have shown that the access to healthier food is more challenging for low-income neighborhoods, communities of color, and rural areas (Bell 9). Families closer to town, especially smaller towns, seem to have easier access to healthy foods due to a higher income and the population which results in a higher demand.

Citizens of low socioeconomic communities are more likely to consist of corner stores, carry outs, and small markets that sell processed, high-sugar, and high-fat foods. Resulting in residents in low-income communities more inclined to becoming obese and acquiring diabetes. Majority inner city urban communities do not have adequate grocery stores without adequate grocery stores, locals are more likely to be afflicted with diabetes, obesity, and higher mortality rates compared to high socioeconomic

Poverty is one of the many factors that affects health and wellness within minority populations and is a major cause of health disparities across the nation (Pettit & Nienhaus, 2010). People living below the poverty level frequently live in racially segregated communities with high levels of poverty and crime (Pettit & Nienhaus, 2010). Within these communities, healthy food options are not always accessible. As a result, fast food establishments and local convenience stores provide much of the grocery and food options for these poor neighborhoods. Diets primarily assembled from fast food and convenience stores tend to be high fat and sodium in nature and contribute to the obesity epidemic affecting many low-income populations’ across the nation

There are many places in the United States where it is hard to find a supermarket that sells these healthy foods. They are surrounded by convenience stores and fast food restaurants. If these parents in these areas are able to find healthy foods in a supermarket, that doesn’t mean they will be able to afford the healthy food. This becomes a major problem for low-income families.

Excessive food intake and improper diet is a major contributor to obesity. Families of lower SES are more likely to reside in neighborhoods that make it difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Fresh fruits and vegetables tend to be considerably more costly and scarce compared to abundant accessibility of processed and canned foods. According to a 2010 estimate by the researchers in the US Department of Agriculture, 9.7% of the American population live in low-income neighborhoods that are more than one mile from a supermarket or health food store (Ver Ploeg et al., 2012).

For many low-income Americans, the dialogue around health usually revolves around how accessible fresh food is to them. Gilligan’s article on Slate published on Feb 10th, 2014 purports that the problem does not lie with the so-called deserts. The argument presented by Gilligan assesses the validity of the claim that poor people are unhealthy because they do not have proper access to cheap, healthy food. It is not by getting more and more fresh food at low costs to these poor neighborhoods that people will become healthier but rather by assessing the poverty itself. Gilligan’s article is heavily factual and relies on statistical analysis to provide a clearer picture of the impact that more fresh food has had and sticks to a logical argument

“Little miss muffet sat on her tuffet eating … one potato chip?” No, that’s definitely not how the real story goes, no one can just have one potato chip, let’s try that again. “Little miss muffet sat on her tuffet stuffing her face full of salty goodness. Along came a spider to sit down beside her but sadly there was no more room. Miss muffet’s bag may have been emptied but her stomach was full of food and her heart full of guilt and self-loathing because her hind-end could no longer fit on her tuffet”, yes, this version is much more accurate don’t you think? We’ve all been in miss muffet’s situation, for me more times than I can count. I have been filled with determination to deny my taste buds, but crack under the offer of a cookie because it’s habit. It’s a habit for me to just eat whatever I want and not blink twice. I know I’m not the only one whose been given the ‘gift’ of no self-control when it comes to food. So here are some things to remember if you want a healthy Christian perspective on your body image. You need to know that you don’t have to be skinny to honor God, realizing that abusing food can be a sin, and when you experience a healthy physical body only then can you experience a truly healthy spiritual body.