Food Insecurity Essay

Many college students are at risk for hunger. Low-income students do not prioritize eating because of their other financial responsibilities, including rent, textbooks, and transportation. Students who tend to buy their own food, do not buy the most nutritious meals which includes the infamous ramen for lunch or dinner. Two articles that discuss students experiencing food insecurity are “Students Shouldn’t Have to Choose Between Books and Food” by Clare Cady explains how low-income students cannot afford the food provided on campus because of other responsibilities which tend to relate to school whether its textbooks or transportation to get to class. The other article, “Student Food Insecurity: The Skeleton in the University Closet” by

Food insecurity is when a person does not have access to an abundance of food, and when the little food they do have, is not nutritious (Ruane). One of the big steps in lowering the food insecurity rate, is making the public more aware of the issue. If we started showing the world more facts about this issue, more would be done to lower the problem. If we stated the fact that one of every six people suffer from food insecurity in the United States alone (Coleman), maybe it would spark people to become more active and do more to help. The one of every six people fact is just in the United States. This issue strikes at home, not just in underdeveloped countries in Africa like we think. It is startling to know that food insecurity occurs in every community across the United States

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.”

Food insecurity is a determent to health that has become more prevalent in low-income areas of the country. Food security is an important aspect of public health in which greater evidence is showing that food insecurity as a direct link to poor health. Food insecurity can be define as “the inability to acquire or consume and adequate diet quality or sufficient quantity of

Food insecurity is a state of being when there is no reliable access to sufficient amount of affordable and nutritious food. In this state food is very scare and obtaining it is impossible. Many Americans have no idea where there next meal will come from. The burden is

Food insecurity is a term that was introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA labels the insecurity based on the severity with four different groups. One group is the Low Food Security; which means low quality, desirability or variety but no or little reduction of food. Very Low Food Security is reduced food intake and multiple disruptions of eating patterns. The opposite spectrum is High Food Security. This is no food limitations or no issues accessing food. Marginal food security is sufficient supply of food with some concern of ability to supply. (USDA, https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/definitions-of-food-security.aspx).

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.

Food insecurity can the idea of not knowing whether food will be available at the time, it can also be defined as deciding how the low income will be distributed from utilities to nourishment. Taking this into perspective, close to 88 percent of the American population does not have to worry about food insecurity, yet this issue affects 12 percent of Americans having to choose between keeping their families warm versus full. Although the term fed and full are used much differently when viewing a family with a low income. In most scenarios, low income families must reside in the low income neighborhoods, where they can obtain the basic of shelter. Still these neighborhoods lack the steady availability of nutritious foods. This issue arises for two reasons, affordability and lack of income. The lack of means to pay for these groceries holds to be the focal reason why grocers cannot be made readily obtainable for these areas let alone those with money variability (Berg 120). Aside from the lack of

Collectively, there are fewer full service stores in wards 5, 7, and 8 than in ward 3 alone. These wards can be referred to as a ‘food desert’, urban neighborhoods or rural towns without access to fresh, healthy and affordable foods. This is a large contributor to the problem. If someone cannot easily access the right foods, are they expected to go out of their way to get it? Perhaps, but it certainly isn’t the reality.

In previous years Grand Canyon University has offered a wide variety of food options. Up until last year, 2015, there was a cafeteria style food option that offered students the opportunity to pay one flat rate to gain entrance into the cafeteria that offered a variety of different food choices. There was a healthy salad bar, an Italian kitchen, a Mongolian grill, and an American style cafe. All of these foods were home cooked and were cooked using minimal GMO’s and were overall a healthy choice. Grand Canyon found that students were swiping into the “union” at the one flat rate and staying for the majority of the day. This was costing GCU a lot of money because students were consuming a large amount of food for one low price. This year GCU made a large

Food insecurity is a term that indicates the limited capability to afford nutritionally adequate and safe food or the limited ability to obtain adequate foods in socially acceptable ways (1-2). In 2015, 13% of all U.S. households, which represents 42.2 million people (including 29.1 million adults and 13.1 million children), were food insecure (3) and food insecurity was found to be present in every county in the United States, ranging from a low of 4% in Loudoun County, VA to a high of 38% in Jefferson County, MS (4).

Food insecurity is defined as when an individual has inconsistent and inadequate access to a sufficient amount of nutritious food preventing him or her from maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It is typically associated with limited financial  It is sometimes classified as a public health concern and is currently a growing issue as the number of individuals suffering from food insecurity is increasing according to Statistics Canada.   Food insecurity has its greatest impact on the individual itself and an impact on the Government of Ontario and mayors of the cities within Ontario.  It is an important issue as it can more issues to branch out from it  such as famine (long term hunger), increased health care costs and more. Thus, food insecurity has many impacts on the person itself and it can cause more issues to build upon this one issue.

In this article, the authors analyzed different studies to investigate the causes of food insecurity. The studies concluded that physical and mental disabilities, stress, and financial problems all contribute to food insecurity. On the other hand, they found that education is not directly related to food instability.

To many, Northeastern’s dining halls rank fairly well in comparison with other schools. Although there have been many complaints that the menu is rarely changed, Northeastern does tend to offer a varied selection of food. In a recent survey, students were asked to rate Northeastern’s dining halls on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best. About 36 percent surveyed ranked the food a “3” and about 57 percent ranked it a “4.” In general, Northeastern students think decent things about the dining halls. Some of the complaints however, included that there are a lot of fried and fattening foods, repetitive menus, and that vegetarian food is not always readily available; you sometimes have to wait for it to be cooked for you (e.g., veggie burgers).

Food insecurity can be defined as the inability to acquire an adequate quality or sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so. One in six Americans are food insecure. There are five components of food security, including quantity, quality, suitability, psychological, and social factors. Food insecurity can occur for a variety of reasons, the main one being poverty. Decreasing the amount of food wasted has the ability to feed millions of these Americans.