Food Inseecurity And Marginal Food Security In The United States

“We cant close the gap on health unless we talk about nutrition”. The issue of food security can have a negative impact on the wellbeing of individuals and families in Australia, there are a number of different groups who are more vulnerable to food insecurity than others, due to social whereabouts. Food insecurities is defined as “ access by all people at all times to enough food for an active healthy life” by saying this Australia has been shown as food secure but this has people asking “why are certain groups and cultures running out of food to feed there families through out the year, if we are food secure?’ about 5% of Australians suffer from food insecurities this is usually caused by the access they have to food or the inadequate food

After reading the extensive “The New Face of Hunger” (Tracie McMillan), my eyes became more open to the overall issue of hunger, faced by many people today. In a few words, I was absolutely shocked by the true meaning and examples provided of what exactly food insecurity is. Honestly speaking, when I hear the word “hunger” I think of a human who has no food, living on the streets. “The New Face of hunger” brought to my attention that food insecurity is much more than simply having no food. In fact, “In 2006 the U.S. government replaced “hunger” with the term “food insecure” to describe any household where, sometime during the previous year, people didn’t have enough food to eat” (The New Face of Hunger). Not only was I able to see the harsh

According to the USDA's Economic Research Service, the food-insecure are those families in America that at times didn't know whether they had or could find enough food to meet their needs. This was due to the lack of money or other resources, such as government assistance or community food banks (USDA ERS - Food Security in the U.S.). In it's most recent study, the Economic Research Service found that as of 2013, 80.5 percent of families in the U.S. were food secure, leavinf over 49 million people food-insecure (USDA ERS - Food Security in the U.S.). Of that 49 million, nearly 9 million children lived in food-insecure households (USDA ERS - Food Security in the U.S.).

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.”

According to the United Nations, food security is defined as “all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (“Rome Declaration,” 1996). Canada has adopted this definition, although they monitor food insecurity per each household and analyze financial barriers causing the situation. Research has shown that 62.2% of households

Approximately 13.6 people live in these areas, and are suffering from food insecurity (Wright, Donley, Gualtieri, & Strickhouser, 2016). Food insecurity is when there is still food available, but the problem is that the food available is not nutritionally capable of supporting a healthy diet and is still overpriced (Wright et al,

With the various reading this past week, I believe the government is doing enough, as much as they can to aid in the issue with food insecurity among its citizens. There are so many programs that cater to families and individuals in need. Especially women and children. Social welfare program, such as W.I.C, TANF, General Assistance, food pantries run by the government, etc. all work in efforts to eliminate food insecurities in homes across America. I believe the government is not at 100% percent responsible of the high percentage of food insecurities in America. People and families are at fault as well. I believe life is full of choices, when people do not make the right choices, or problems happen within a person life, such as losing a job or losing a loved one. This losses have high impacts at forcing families and individuals into food insecurities and tough spots in their life. The government should not be held responsible I believe for foreseen occurrences within a person’s life.

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 studies reviewed by James Levine, over 3,000 US counties were observed. He found that 43% of households that are living under the poverty line ($21,756) are living with food insecurity. In accordance to the 15.1% of Americans living in poverty, 14% of the counties reviewed have more than 1 in 5 individuals use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The service of the program in the counties correlates with the county-wide poverty rates (Levine 2667).

Information is readily available at the feedingamerica.org website. Hunger in America 2014 reveals that each year, 46.5 million unduplicated individuals receive charitable food assistance through the Feeding America network. This translates to an estimated 1 in 7 Americans or 15.5 million households served by the network each year. In a further breakdown of the statistic, 58,000 food programs reach our Americans 389 Million times a year. 55% are 18 to 59 years old and 17% are 60 and above. That sadly means only16% of all American homes are food secure (Weinfield4). According to the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, food secure is defined as the existence of the necessary conditions for human beings to have physical and economic access, in socially acceptable ways, to food that is safe, nutritious and in keeping with their cultural preferences, so as to meet their dietary needs and live productive and healthy lives. The main way food security is even possible is 79% of American homes have to purchase inexpensive unhealthy food to feed their families. Due to unhealthy foods we have obesity, high blood pressure, and other health issues. Speaking of families, 89% of households with children are food insecure. Furthermore, 20% of Feeding America households have a member who has served in the US military. Should you have to choose between eating or

Food insecurity is an issue faced by millions of Americans every day, and the biggest group affected by this are working families with children. Food insecurity is so big that the United States government have now recognized it and provided a definition for it. The United States government has defined food insecurity as a household level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food (USDA.gov). Food banks and anti-hunger advocates agree that some of the causes of food insecurity are stagnant wages, increase in housing costs, unemployment, and inflation of the cost of food. These factors and unemployment have cause food banks to see a change in the groups of people needing assistance. Doug O’Brien,

According to UN (1990), household food security defined as “The ability of household members to assure themselves sustained access to sufficient quantity and quality of food to live active and healthy life.” FAO (1992) defines as food security is referred in terms of access to food, availability of food, and also in terms of resource distribution to produce food and purchasing power to buy food, where it is produced. Another definition given by USAID (1992) defines food security as: “when all people at all times have both physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet their dietary needs for a productive and healthy life.” Based on this food security includes at a minimum the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food, and assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (such as without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies). According to World Bank

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)

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

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.