Food : A Large Part Of Food

Christina deeply cares for kids, to the point where she will only eat if there is enough food for her to consume. Christina says, “I eat lunch if there’s enough, but the kids are the most important. They have to eat first” (The New Face of Hunger). To go deeper into this family’s life, Jim, the husband of Christina, often works until eight at night, applying pesticides on commercial farms for $14 an hour. To continue, after reading simply the first part of this article, it is clear that both Christina and Jim want only the best for their kids. What one does not know, unless one has watched the video provided by “The New Face of Hunger”, is that the Dreier family, particularly Christina, are a bit over weight. Now, I asked myself, if one is low on food, how is one overweight? To follow up, this is where the “healthy resources” stated in the introduction come in to play. For many, “the extra pounds that result from a poor diet are collateral damage—an unintended side effect of hunger itself” (The New Face of Hunger). In other words, due to the fact that the food supply is severely limited to Americans, the healthy food supply is even more minuscule, making the limited (unhealthy) food cause long term damage to the

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

According to Sam Dolnick in his article “The Obesity-Hunger Paradox,” majority of Americans have an incorrect view on what hunger and obesity actually look like in our country. Hunger, he describes, is seen in “ragged toddlers” and “rail-thin children” living in the dirty dark conditions caused by poverty (219). Obesity, on the other hand, gives a completely different picture filled with it’s own slew of negative stigma.

In Lisa Miller’s essay “Divided We eat,” she describes her usual morning breakfast that consists of fancy foods and claims that she is a food snob. She then goes into detail about what her neighbor's routine is like, and what Alexandra Ferguson’s morning routine is like. Food is typically a big issue for these families and the parents will usually spend hours thinking about how they will feed their families. Miller and Ferguson later discuss that some children don’t get enough eat, and some of these children are within five miles of them. Miller then tells us that seventeen percent of Americans are food insecure. The income gap has increased and now more Americans are becoming obese because of this.

It was difficult to read that countless millions of federal dollars and many of our country's most successful efforts to halt the spread of childhood hunger and starvation have recently been withdrawn. And as a result, this problem of childhood hunger is not getting better but is actually getting worse. The most recent estimates compiled by the USDA in 1999 indicate that 36.2 million Americans live in food-insecure households, which means that their access to adequate and safe food is limited or uncertain. This too is very disturbing information.

Obesity is a problem in different areas throughout the world; obesity is a major problem in the United States of America. The food industry in the U.S. has changed. Food is cheaper and easier to access, but food is lower in quality and is massively produced (Kenner, 2008). Food is no longer as hard to come by as it once was and is not as expensive, but healthy food is more expensive and, most of the time, requires trips to the grocery store. In American society today, American are busy and have minimal time to exercise, cooking, or even go to the grocery store. The lower socioeconomic classes are notably affected as a result of individuals and families of lower socioeconomic classes often can’t afford healthy food from local grocery stores

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, “Forty-nine million Americans live in food insecure households in today 's society”. This is the problem that the current SNAP program isn’t addressing, that funding is not enough to help these forty-nine million Americans struggling to get enough food to feed themselves and their families. We need to provide them the food that they need in order to survive, but we also must devise a plan to give them the healthiest and inexpensive choices that they deserve. For example, why would it make sense that on average a box of strawberries is more expensive than a bag of chips and it holds less nutritional value? For those that are poor in our society and cannot afford healthy eating, they

The author’s intention is to inform the reader that the healthy lunch programs are failing. The author provides plentiful information and research on the failing school lunch programs in the U.S. “In the war to get America’s children to eat healthier, things are not going well.” Kids are not eating their vegetables. This has become a big problem in America and steps need to be taken to stop unhealthy eating. Like The Agriculture Department mandating that students in the federal lunch program choose a fruit or vegetable with their meals. This solution didn’t work and actually worsened the problem. “Their consumption of fruits and vegetables actually went down 13 percent after the mandate took effect.”

Food, has a specific meaning to all of us; for some it is a form of nourishment, for others it is a cultural act,

In the U.S., obesity rates are constantly rising. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, shows that, in the U.S., “more than 1 in 3 adults are considered to be obese, … and more than 1 in 6 children and adolescents ages 6 to 19 are considered to be obese” (Overweight). In 2008, the Food Stamp Program, renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), had the highest number of beneficiaries since its inception in 1968 (Cancio). “As of late 2009, about 40 million people were enrolled in the program, amounting to about 1 in 8 adults and 1 in 4 children in the United States” (Cancio). 28.1% of people on food stamps are obese, while only 17.5% of nonrecipients of the food stamp are considered obese (Baum). This disparity is likely due, in part, to the accessibility of calorie-dense junk food. One way to increase the accessibility of healthy food to these low-income individuals is by alloacating a certain amount of food stamp money to certain healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. By partially restricting one’s personal freedom to choose what and how much they consume, the health of the American population will become less affected by mental and physical diseases caused by poor diet, and the efficiency of the U.S. economy will improve because less money will be needed to help treat obesity.

Jamie Oliver’s Ted Talk “Teaching every child about food,” captures his great passion and investment in fighting childhood obesity, improving children’s health, and lengthening their life expectancy. Obesity affects not just those that are obese, but family, friends, community, and country. The healthcare expense for obesity in the United States per year is two hundred and ten billion per year and growing, this expense is then passed down to Americans who have to pay more money in health insurance premiums as well as tax dollars to help cover this massive expense. (Oliver, J., 2010)

Also, any families spend their time together by eating meals while watching television, which can cause children to overeat (Denney-Wilson). Often partnered with fast food, soft drinks have risen to popularity. Many parents are unaware that one 12 ounce can of soda is filled with 10 teaspoons of sugar. Just one additional serving of soda increases a child’s odds of obesity by 60% (“1 Can of…”). If parents are made aware of what they are feeding their children, it might help reduce the percentage of obese children in the United States. Although most families would react to obesity by trying to feed their children healthier meals, some lower-income families are unable to afford the best quality food for their families. One study showed that children from households that are experiencing financial insecurity are more prone to health issues than those who are not experiencing these same issues (Yoo). The government should help these lower-income families by providing them with monetary support to purchase healthy food. Not only will the incorporation of a healthy diet help children overcome their weight problems, it can have an added benefit of helping them academically. Researchers have found that children who eat healthy meals will report better scores on standardized tests (Williams). By changing the diet of their children, parents can help their children to overcome their weight problems.

Food, in itself, is a social concept, a perception of an idea that is constructed through cultural and social practice. Food is constructed through cultural practice, defined by its particular usage and representation among particular ethnic and cultural groups. Therefore, food’s significance is much more than simply satiating hunger. Take religious restrictions on pork, for example. What reason caused Islam’s belief in the pig as haram, considering it is eaten by the vast majority of the world? Simply put, why do Muslims avoid pork? This can be rationally analyzed, and is attributed to the climate and geographical limitations of foodways in the Middle East. However, as Islam spread throughout the world, the habitual action of avoiding

Depressed economy coupled with many areas of geographic isolation, makes it difficult for West Virginia’s children and families to maintain an adequate diet. Poverty also has a negative impact on the quality of the meals that can be provided. Families often resort to inexpensive, low-nutrition, high-calorie meals. National Survey of Children’s Health data revealed that 47.4% of WV children ages 10-17 living in families with incomes of less than 100% of the federal poverty level (FPL) were either overweight or obese.

After observing the latest statistics on the current generation of children in America, Michelle Obama setup the Nutritional Standards in the National School Breakfast Program, which set out to provide healthier meals to children everyday through the school (“USDA Unveils Historic Improvements to Meals Served in America’s Food”). This was what seemed like just the change the country needed to turn the tide in the fight against childhood obesity. This