Food Insecurity Among The United States

In this critical response to the article America’s Food Crisis and How to Fix it by Bryan Walsh. I am going to talk about how animals are being harmed and are given antibiotics to keep them from becoming sick, where the farmers put all the waste from the animals, and how people could fix it.

American society has grown so accustomed to receiving their food right away and in large quantities. Only in the past few decades has factory farming come into existence that has made consuming food a non guilt-free action. What originally was a hamburger with slaughtered cow meat is now slaughtered cow meat that’s filled with harmful chemicals. Not only that, the corn that that cow was fed with is also filled with chemicals to make them grow at a faster rate to get that hamburger on a dinner plate as quickly as possible. Bryan Walsh, a staff writer for Time Magazine specializing in environmental issues discusses in his article “America’s Food Crisis” how our food is not only bad for us but dangerous as well. The word dangerous

A severe shortage of food in the United States could occur from many causes. Farms could stop growing crops and breeding animals. Some sort of bacteria could sweep through the country killing different food plants. The more important part of the shortage of food however would not be the causes, but the effects. The stance of the country's economy, the well-being of middle and lower-class families, and the quality of stores that used to sell the products would all decline greatly if an event as severe as an extreme shortage of food were to occur.

Food insecurity is defined as “the lack of access to enough food to ensure adequate nutrition.”1 The Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) reported that 14.6% of US households were food insecure during at least some portion of 2008 (up 11.1% from 2007), the highest levels recorded since monitoring began in 1995.2 Food insecurity is a concern of under consumption and obesity is a disease of over consumption, yet both outcomes may coexist, seemingly incongruously, within the same household.2 The most popular explanation is that low-cost, energy-dense foods linked to obesity are favored by financially constrained households, who are the most likely to be food insecure.2 Another theory, focusing on environmental context net of individual circumstance, argues that obesity and insecurity are both symptoms of malnutrition, occurring in neighborhoods where nutritious foods are unavailable or unaffordable.2 A separate literature researches environmental roles in poor nutritional outcomes, recent studies link obesity as well as atherosclerosis and diabetes to the food environment, the local context of available food items.2 The theory is that local inaccessibility to healthy foods influences diet composition, a claim supported by evidence.2 Especially in poorer neighborhoods, food options are often limited to fast food restaurants, convenience stores, or grocery stores more poorly stocked both in

Did you know in 2014, 48.1 million households in the United States were food insecure? (Feeding America, 2016) Additionally, household with children reported higher rates of food insecurity compared to households without children. According to new research, a great proportion of college students are suffering from food insecurity (Hughes et al., 2011; Patton-Lopez et al., 2014). According to the United States Department of Agriculture, food insecurity is defined by “the state of being without reliable access to sufficient quantity of affordable nutritious food” (2015). Since 2006, the USDA introduced new terms to categorize food insecurity ranges. Marginal food security is described as “anxiety over food sufficiency or shortage of food in the house. Little or no change in diet” (Gaines et al., n.d.). Low food security “reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet without reduced food intake. Very low food security “disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.”

There are currently two prevalent narratives on the duties, the obligations, of a government, both of which have been used to justify government welfare. The first, and most vocal is that a government, in general and without exception, ought to protect its own citizens from any and all harms. The second popular narrative is where the government is strictly in existence to protect the rights (life, liberty, property, Bill of Rights, et cetera) of its citizens. First, it is first imperative to know that 14.5% of American families are below the poverty line and struggle to even place food on the table and are in a real danger of starving (Bread). Whether it is to protect its citizens from poverty or their lives from the effect of it, most would agree that the government has a moral obligation to act. Thus, it is reproachable for a government to take no action in protecting its citizens from from the

“Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence (Ronald Reagan).” The Government stands tall as the “big brother” and takes the responsibility of holding the United States up. The question is, is it too much to bear? The United States following the Dust Bowl was a disaster, and this was the first time in history many looked to the government for assistance in holding the country up. What began nearly 100 years ago never ended and only grew into what it is today: welfare, where anyone struggling can receive assistance. Since the 1930’s much has changed, today the government assists low income Americans in many ways just two are providing food and housing.

Although the United States government spends $176 billion on hunger programs every year, there are currently more than 46 million Americans going hungry every day. In the U.S. every county, state, or congressional district experiences some form of malnutrition and hunger. Right now there is a rapid increase in the number of hungry Americans and the issue is quickly becoming problematic. Today one in six Americans participate in one or more of the fifteen nutrition assistance programs funded by the government and provided by the USDA. Recently more people have begun to question what hunger really is, what all the programs actually do, and what their results are.

People are without food worldwide. When we think of malnutrition and food insecurity we think about poverty stricken nations. The United States of America is not really discussed when it comes to food scarcity, but in reality this problem is prevalent in America and affects more than just homeless people. Some of the people that you least expect have to live without the adequate amount of food for survival. Scarcity of food is ignored by even the government and is embarrassing to those who have to live this struggle. The documentary A Place at the Table presents the food struggle in the U.S. with families who are suffering from a lack of food. This deficiency can cause serious health complications and can affect all aspects of life.

I agree that the government should be spending more time working to create more sense of responsibility and to promote social responsibility and well-being. On the other hand, what happen when thing get to, a point where the government, because of the lack of well-being and responsibility, has to act in order to protect their citizens? I believe that there is limitation for each personal / private action and that the government has the responsibilities to over guard each citizen even again he/her own desires. Do not take wrong, I do not want the government to be part of my business, however, if my business get to the point that can harm others, them it is not only my

In 2013 almost 86% of households in america were food secure. This means that 14.3% of households in America were food insecure (meaning they were not able to provide food for themselves). 5.6% out of this 14.3% had extremely low food security. This means that these households had no money or resources available to acquire food. Although this amount of people being food insecure may seem high it has been slowly declining. In 2011, the amount of households that were food insecure was 14.9%. This decrease might seem very small, but in reality it means that thousands of households are now food secure.

A long time ago the humans were running out of food. Yet, there was food but it was super rare to find. There was less and less food every day as people started to have wars between Continents as everyone died eating each other. In America, the only people left became “dumb as doornails” and oversized weighing four hundred pounds or more. The only people who are alive have access to the most advanced technology. A very smart man came along who is much smarter than a man who is as “dumb as a doornail.” The population of America is dying since there is a shortage of food. So they made food out of the fat unhealthy Americans to turn to food. As the problem was is that the small problem food was alive. So They gave us so much land to build and

In this History of Social Work video I couldn’t believe how the government never really took a step in. in order to help all the unemployed and homeless people in time of great need but instead they were federally funding other things that in my opinion weren't as important as the unemployed and homeless. The situation was so bad that it lead loss of homes, loss of families, suicide and starvation. And once the government started helping people they became dependent. Instead of going out and looking for jobs while receiving welfare they just depended on it. Which was opposite of the objective that the government had proposed. I feel people should have worked hard to find jobs and we could avoided that whole gap between the rich and the poor

Sometimes in life we all need a helping hand, a shoulder to lean on, or someone to help us over that bump in life. The government signed up to be those people for the people in this country? So, why can’t they manage their money better and help everyone? Why should anyone have to suffer when it could be easily avoided? They shouldn’t. The people of the government need to open their eyes to the suffering and help them, and to learn the quote “while earning your daily bread, be sure you share a slice with those less fortunate” (quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr).

Food Insecurity is defined as access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life, and at a minimum includes the following: the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods and the assured ability to acquire personally acceptable foods in a socially acceptable way, qualified by their involuntariness and periodicity. Even though food insecurity affects everyone in the household, it may also affect them differently. Food insecurity mostly exists whenever food security is limited. Uncertain or limited availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods results chronic diseases psychological, and suicidal syndrome (Cook & Frank, 2008)