Food Insecurity In The United States

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

In 2010, 17 million US households were food insecure. Of those households, approximately 5% reported very low food security (Coleman-Jensen, et. al., 2011). 21% of surveyed students in Hawaii were food insecure, while 15% had low food security and 6% had very low food security (Chaparro, et al., 2009). Oregon State University conducted its own study, which revealed 59% of students surveyed were food insecure at some point in 2013 (Patton-Lopez, 2014). Additionally, a study conducted at two community

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

Did you know that in 2014 there were 48.1 million Americans that lived in food insecure households? When a household is food insecure, it means that its residents have trouble meeting their basic nutritional needs due to lack of money or

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.

When asked the question "who in the United states is food-insecure?" one must first answer the question of what it means to have food security in America. Food security is defined by Edelstein (2010) as "assured access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life, as well as access to enough food that is safe, nutritious, and acquired in a socially acceptable way." (pg. 71). Hunger would then be considered the absence of food. According to statistics by the Feeding America Organization, in 2014 they reported that 48.1 million Americans where considered to be food-insecure, with 32.8 of them being adults while 15.3 were children (2014). I believe that is also important to characterize where exactly Americans are more likely to be in this category. These same statistics also showed that there was a correlation of region when it came to Americans being more food-insecure. This region was shown to be the southern states of the US, as states like Texas, Kentucky and Louisiana all were in the top

The United States has a population of 323,100,000 people as of 2016, however 42,238,000 people are at risk of going hungry giving a 13.4% rate. The average meal cost $2.94 in the US with $22,267,592,013 as the annual food budget shortfall. (“Map the Meal Gap”) On average, US households experience the risk of going hungry seven months out of the year. (“How We Got the Map Data”) Feeding America found that food insecurity varies by geographic regions and status. It found that counties in the South have the highest rate at 16.1%, while the West has 13.7%, Midwest is 12.1% and Northeast regions at 11.8% of food insecurity. (“Food Insecurity by Region”)

“Food insecurity isn’t a measure of hunger; it is based on the measure of a person’s financial circumstances and their perception of how much food they can afford to buy.” It is estimated that 31 million people in the United States have experienced either food insecurity or actual hunger (George, 1). Roughly a third of food insecure households have  “very low food security.” And the number of people going hungry has grown dramatically in the U.S. “increasing to 48 million by 2012 (McMillan,1) has caused one in five children to grow up in poverty which has affected academic performance and social skills”. “In 1980 there were

When an individual is suffering from food insecurity, he or she generally experiences a different lifestyle than those who are food secure.  People suffering from food insecurity generally goes through cycles of overeating and undereating, eat food with less nutritious value, is underactive and they have limited access to resources which would allow him or her from maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle such as a gym, doctor's’ office etc. Food insecurity has the  greatest impact on the individual specifically his or her physical and mental

The implications due to this social issue can implicate a client’s life in so many arenas including their health physically, mentally, and emotionally. Due to this addressing food, insecurity needs consideration within social welfare and social services concerns.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program also helps subside some of the negative health effects caused by food insecurity for participants. Food insecurity during a woman’s pregnancy can increase the chances of birth defects and cause maternal depression (Gundersen et al., 2011). Children who live in a food insecure household can have anemia, low nutrient intake, greater cognitive and behavioral problems, higher levels of aggression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts. Adults with lower nutrient intake can experience physical and mental problems, such as depression and greater levels of stress. Food insecurity can also increase the chances of developing diabetes and becoming overweight. The elderly are more likely to be in poor health

Individuals with low income often face high levels of stress and sometimes mental illness such as depression. Metabolic issues that stem from stress make it difficult to maintain a healthy weight. This affects people of every age and income, but it may be especially prevalent to those with low income as they have the stress of bills that cannot be paid, or food that cannot be purchased. No access to healthcare means that they have no one to help them cope with or treat their illnesses. (frac.org,

According to the USDA website in 2015, 12.7 percent, or 15.8 million of American households were food insecure. A food-insecure household is a household that had difficulty at some time during the year providing enough nutritious food for all the members in a household due to a lack of resources (Coleman-Jensen, et al.

One of most common problems in the world is food insecurity. It is not only happening in the third world countries, but it is also happening in the richest country in world, the USA. Food insecurity occurs when a family does not have enough food for all family members. The USDA confirms that 12.7 percent of U.S households are suffering from food insecurity. Food insecurity can be of two kinds: low food insecurity and very low food insecurity. In low insecurity households, family members just eat enough calories for their body, but their food is not nutritious. Low food insecurity makes up 7.4 percent of 12.7 of food insecurity households in the U.S, (USDA). The other type is very low food insecurity. The family members do not have enough food at specific times in the year because they lack money. This type makes up 4.9 percent out of 12.7 percent in the food insecurity, (USDA). Food insecurity most often happens in the households with children, especially households with children headed by a single man or a single woman. The USDA estimates that households with children headed by single woman have 31.6 percent chance of experiencing low food insecurity, and households with children headed by a single man have 21.7 percent chance for low food insecurity. The South has highest rate of food insecurity with 13.5 percent. The rate of food insecurity in the Northeast (10.8 percent) is lower than Midwest (12.2 percent). The rate of food insecurity according to states in the three