BMCC Food Insecurity Report

The original purpose of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was to address the rising amount of healthcare cost in the United States, and substantially increase the amount of Americans insured with access to affordable healthcare. The ACA allows for the expansion of Medicaid; the government health insurance program, which is designed to increase enrollees for low income families in Medicaid. With this new legislation people who are under the age of 65 who are at or below 133 percent of the poverty line will have access to Medicaid. Anyone who earns below 400 percent of the poverty line will qualify for subsidies for health insurance. (Cockburn, 7) Americans who earn above this level must either buy insurance, or use their employer’s coverage. This is a huge implication because the estimated of new enrollees in 2014 estimated by the Congressional Budget Office is between 16 and 17 million. The federal government has agreed to finance this expansion of Medicaid for the first three years of implementation, for states that agree to the program. After these three years the states will have to start to pay a small portion of Medicaid. Many people with substance abuse problems, and mental disorders without insurance, are low income earning childless adults. (Bainbridge, 5)Under the ACA these Americans now have access to behavioral health treatment, in the 26

from McDonalds than a home cooked meal of baked fish with a Caesar salad on the side. A Big Mac cheeseburger alone is 550 calories and with French fries, that’s an extra 365 calories, compared to the baked fish and a salad which is only 324 calories combined. Mostly because they are too lazy to actually take out the time to prepare the meal for themselves. When cooking you have to keep checking to see if the foods done, take out certain supplies, and you have to stand up to cook, while at the drive-through you come in hungry and leave out full in less than ten minutes. After a long day of work, most people want to take the easy way out by going through the drive thru and ordering a combo. Take the easy road one night then slowly but surely it starts to become a habit, and that’s when lots of Americans find themselves in a fast food restaurant line almost every day. For example, my cousin works long hours as a nurse and when she gets off from work, she’s usually exhausted. She has a ten year old son who’s never had a home cooked meal from his mother. Nutrition experts have long identified the lack of home cooking as one of the factors contributing to the ongoing obesity crisis, including childhood obesity. My family always question my cousin about why she doesn’t cook and she always give us the same answer.

“Although many health authorities insist that there is no such thing as junk food, consumers find it a useful term for distinguishing nourishing food from products whose chief appeal is fun, convenience, and addictive taste; ‘bet you can't eat just one’ ”(Junk Food). Americans are spending about $4.6 billion a year on potato chips, and 23.5 billion a year on candy and gum. 46 Percent of adult Americans eat out on a typical day, and one third of them choose fast food. That is because the fast food industry has slowly become one of the symbols of American culture and is spreading to other cultures as well: McDonalds has 26,000 locations in 119 countries, Pizza Hut has more than 10,000 in 86 countries, and Subway has 14,500 in 75 countries. Commercials, signs, and huge advertisements are pushing junk food at us every day; people cannot even go to the grocery store without candy bars being lined up right by the checkout. The junk food industry realizes how appealing it can be. When a person is in a rush, they can easily eat a large meal without having to make a lot of decisions, work, dress up, or get out of their car. The speed and convenience fit Americans’ pressured lifestyles. It does not fit, however, to our health and wellness. A fast food meal, such as a Burger King Double Whopper with cheese, contains 965 calories, more than double the amount of fat, and as much as 750 grams too much sodium

Schmeer, K. K., & Piperata, B. A. (2017). Household food insecurity and child health. Maternal

Many colleges and universities have utilized the food pantry approach. Food pantries are easier for campuses to utilize because of the ability to be flexible with the services rendered (Dubick., et al., 2016). Students can utilize the services without having to travel far, they are also more apt to use the services because it is a college program, not a community or public program. Seventeen percent of food insecure students utilized a campus food pantry, while 14 percent reported going to an off-campus food pantry or food bank (Dubick., et al., 2016). Traditional students are more apt to reside on campus and be aware of the services offered to them through their institution, they will also have the means to use the services provided without having to travel off campus. The student’s ease of access to food programs on campuses may not ease food insecurity, there is no research that indicates whether food pantries are effective in alleviating food

Some wonder whether if the fast food industries should be held accountable for people’s obese attire and health, others say that it is the independent consumers’ responsibility. About 37% of American adults are obese and approximately 17% of children are reported obese as well. Researchers say about 3/4 of Americans will be obese by the year 2020, or maybe sooner (Muntel). It certainly does not seem to be slowing down, unless somehow fast food industries can find indigents to make their food a bit healthier or that people limit the amount of times they go to the restaurant and keep track of their eating habits.

Whereas, McDonalds offers a similar smoothie for $3, it takes only a few seconds to make, and contains only 220 calories” (Freedman, 2013, p. 13). This is very important considering that the main factor to people becoming obese is caused by calorie intake versus outtake. With the fast food restaurant, the consumer is taking in less calories than a “healthy” restaurant. For these reasons, fast food restaurants should not be blamed for obesity in America when their servings have less calories than other restaurants.

Common sense might dictate that eating foods in small portions or controlling the calorie intake of each food will help stabilize weight gain, but most food found in these establishments push past the limit of daily calorie intake per day in just a single meal. “According to Consumer Reports and the Nutrition Action Health Letter, Burger King 's Triple Whopper contains 1,160 calories, 75 grams of fat, and 1050 mgs of sodium; McDonald 's Crispy Chicken Bacon Clubhouse Sandwich has 750 calories, 38 grams of fat, and 1,720 mg of sodium; Hardee 's 2/3 Pound Monster Thickburger hefts 1,330 calories, 66 grams of fat, and an astounding 1,990 mg of sodium; Taco Bell 's Cantina Burrito-Steak carries 750 calories, 28 grams of fat, and 1,940 mg of sodium.” (Ansello) From the data above, one could suggest that regularly eating these in the standard three course fashion would surpass the daily average calorie limit (2000 calories for both men and women.) The average person eats not only the sandwich alone, but consumed along with a side dish and a carbonated beverage. These meals also play a part in the lives of our children, and are the main reasons for underage obesity. To contrast the high saturated fat diets with a leafier or organic substitute, the average American has to drive further to obtain, and also pay a higher dollar cost for the diet. For example, the cost of a “Crispy Chicken Sandwich” at Wendy’s establishment is approximately one dollar, while the

This body of research has also examined food insecurity among community college students. For example, a study conducted by Maroto, Snelling, & Link (2014) examined food insecurity among students at two community colleges in Maryland; one located in a low-income urban community and the other in a wealthy suburban community. The researchers found that there is an astounding number of students who are faced with the challenge of adequately and healthfully feeding themselves. Their findings also revealed that 53% of the students in the urban community compared with 59% in the suburban community were said to be food insecure. Additional results found food insecurity was significantly associated with lower self-reported GPA in the overall student sample and at the suburban college, but not at the urban college (Maroto et al., 2014). A more recent study found that 12.2% of students at community colleges in California are food insecure (Wood, Harris, & Delgado, 2016). The study called for measures to close the inequitable gaps in the number of students of color who had rates of insecurity above the rate of the overall community

Acquiring life’s necessities for many Canadians is as simple as going to the grocery store. For most Northern Aboriginal Canadian communities, who face overwhelmingly high food prices this is not the case. The inability to engage in healthy eating practices for both financial and availability reasons is hypothesized to have contributed to the higher incidence of diet related diseases among this demographic. With food insecurity on the rise, policy reform is essential. Reform must consider both traditional and market foods, as well as minimize all current barriers to food attainment. Urgency is required for a sustainable solution to this problem.

Wilks, Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs believed that “at BMCC, we have worked overtime to create a culture of care by taking responsibility for the whole student, for all the factors that affect student success.” (2018). Data from the report show that “71 percent of its students come from families earning less than $30,000 a year, many below the poverty line (BMCC, 2018). In the same report, a survey was done which show that out of 33,000 community college students, 56 percent reported food insecurity, or not having access to a reliable source of nutritional, affordable food (BMCC, 2018). Leading by example the Student Affair and Single Stop addressed the issue of food insecurity at BMCC by “providing cafeteria food vouchers and supermarket food gift cards, as well as assistance in processing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applications” (2018). On April, 24 2018 BMCC went a step further in taking care of the students’ needs by opening of the college’s new Panther Pantry. For those students who may be facing a food emergency can now visit Single Stop Office for a needs assessment will now be able to take home a three-day supply of nutritionally balanced, nonperishable food. This is a strong indication that BMCC is addressing the hunger need of its

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As tuition and the accompanying expenses and rise so do the rates of food insecurity on college campuses. In a study of 410 students was conducted at the University of Hawai’i at Ma¯noa in Honolulu, Hawai’i to evaluate food insecurity. The results exhibited 21 percent, approximately 86 out of 410, of students qualified to be food insecure with 24 percent, 98 out of 410 being at risk for food insecurity (Chaparro, Zaghloul, Holck, and Dobbs). It was also reported that out of the 410, only eight students used food stamps (Chaparro, Zaghloul, Holck, and Dobbs). This is reflective of most U.S. college campuses including that of Arizona State University, with food insecurity of 34 percent, 14 percent at the University of Alabama, and 24 percent

School lunches are often unsung heroes of many modern American households. Frequently overlooked and disregarded because of their stigma, school lunches are a key ingredient that may help make the world a better place. Unknowingly, great numbers of individuals in our communities deal with food insecurities every day of their lives. It baffles me that in an advanced society many people do not have the resources to provide food for themselves or their families. Until it affected me personally, I was unaware nor passionate about the struggles of food insecurity. My passion for solving food insecurity in my local community has led me to gain both experience and leadership through understanding and advocating for those around me.

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