Rural Food Security And Nutrition

Many years ago, backyard chickens were commonplace throughout the United States of America – mainly for nutrition. During that time, backyard chickens were easy to take care of and a small number of them could feed a family with meat and eggs for a bargain. Years later, manufacturing food became the way of life and

Diverse groups in American society are often the most marginalized and therefore the most vulnerable to issues that undermine the fair and uncomplicated pursuit of health and wellbeing. One of those issues is the lack of access to affordable healthy food and, in many cases, the inaccessibility to food in general. Areas where affordable and healthy foods are largely unavailable are called food deserts and the members of the diverse groups that live in such areas or that have access to very little food at all often develop a sense of food insecurity. One of the groups that is increasingly impacted by food deserts and food insecurity is the nation’s elderly population which is, by most standards, defined as those individuals aged 65 and older. The following paper investigates this phenomenon by addressing the elderly population of Ada County, Idaho as representative of this diverse and often disenfranchised population. The paper investigates the issue of food deserts and food insecurity that threaten the health and wellbeing of the elderly in the context of the various elements of social determinants of health that contribute to their development and persistence. The paper also includes proposals for individual and population-based strategies to improve access to healthy and affordable food by this population as well as improve the health and wellbeing of its members.

People who live in rural America rely more heavily on the federal Food Stamp Program, according to The Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. The Institute's analysis found that while 22 percent of Americans lived in rural areas in 2001, a full 31 percent of the nation's food stamp beneficiaries lived there. In all, 4.6 million rural residents received food stamp benefits in 2001, the analysis found.

The last forty-five years has seen a significant increase in world animal protein production. Since 1967 global production of poultry meat has increased by around 700%, eggs by 350%, pig meat by 290%, sheep and goat meat by 200%, beef and buffalo meat by 180% and milk by 180%. Livestock are increasingly important to the food security of millions of people. (Leyonhjelm 3)

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

We have all wondered where, and how the poultry that is in our grocery stores had gotten there at some point in time, whether if we eat meat or not. When we find out, we are not too ecstatic with the results. It is unbelievable what they do just in order to get profit from the many variations of chicken the companies produce. They treat the birds as if they are not a living, breathing animal sitting right in front of them. They have no sympathy, for this wonderful creation, and all that it has to offer us. The companies only care about the money, and will do anything to get it. Big chicken industries such as Tyson and Perdue, force farmers to raise their chickens in certain ways, and by doing this, the chickens are raised in unhealthy conditions, which puts consumers’ health at risk.

Who knew food insecurity and obesity in rural America could exist at the same time and same place. Not knowing where your next meal is coming from or what you will feed your kids that night is how I describe food insecurity. Eating to much food and not exercising enough is how I would describe obesity. Both of these concepts have far more in depth definitions then what I thought.

Africa is a continent that is rich and diverse in terms of culture and traditions. The continent is also considered to be the agricultural hub in the world. Due to this, most of African culture is ultimately intertwined with the foodstuffs that the land has to offer. In general, most of the inhabitants of Africa live within the rural areas and rely on subsistent farming to meet their day to day food needs. Fast food restaurants and supermarkets where processed and packaged food is sold are usually frowned upon and considered a waste of money and resources (AIG, 2011).

The concept of food security is dynamic, that is continuously incorporated new dimensions and levels of analysis overtime. This ongoing evolution of food security concept indicates the wider recognition of the difficulties of concept in different areas of research and public policy, for the reason that food security issue has long history starting from time when global food crisis take place in the first half of the 1970s (Clay, E. 2002).

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)

According to Sonaiya and Swan (2004), 80% of farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America keep poultry either in free-range extensive system or in backyard extensive system. Many authors believed that poultry bringing under traditional backyard systems in rural households has become an integral part of their livelihood (Branckaert and Guèye, 1999; Ahuja et al., 2008; SA PPLPP, 2009). Poultry farming in the rural areas have diverse functions like rich source of animal proteins, cash income, manure, help control pests (Clarke, 2004; Copland and Alders, 2005; Alders and Pym 2009), sacrifices for rituals, gifts and objects of exchange (Kondombo et al., 2003), and herald time of the

In addition, the highest chicken meat contains protein, vitamins, and minerals, yet lower in fat and cholesterol. Did you know that chicken is a menu that most enjoy doing, so it was not surprising that more than 90% of restaurants around the world serving chicken. In our own culture too, the chicken is always present in the menus of traditional dishes, both to salvation and household dish menu.

Over the past sixty years the poultry industry has seen increased improvements in the area of poultry production all over the world. This increase can be contributed to both genetic development of poultry stock and the development of sophisticated production systems, which includes housing, nutrition, disease control, and management. Prior to the 1940s poultry production took place in rural areas such as backyards, and little was known about the genetic lines of poultry. Since then, scientists have gone to great lengths to increase the development of poultry genetics, which is why the poultry industry is so successful today. Over the past sixty years, the average weight for fifty-six day old broilers increased from 921 grams to 4,402 grams today, which correlates to an increase of over 500%. The increase in average body weight has been stated to be 85-90% due to the improvements in genetics, while the other 10-15% is due to how scientist have modified the feed efficiency of chickens, allowing

Poultry farming or livestock is included in the sector of agriculture. It is important because it serves as a food source for many people. Chicken is considered a necessity good and also the second produced meat next to pork. This is because of the changing preferences of the people. Filipinos are considered to be more in pork than chicken. Fast food in the Philippines is increasing and mostly served in the restaurants, making it to have a high demand to consumers.

“About 7 million Filipinos in 2015 have resorted to open defecation–85% of which are from rural areas without toilet facilities. This poses a threat to the safety of food and quality of drinking water” (WHO, 2016). Although there is a valuable abundance of life and resources, the Philippines is paradoxically afflicted with various complications and barriers to fully access and sustainably use the natural resources available. The lives of Filipinos are thus categorized by an adversity that is persistent throughout the world even with recent progressive developments. “Despite being one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia in recent years, declines in poverty were modest, leaving marginalized groups such as women, children and the elderly vulnerable to hunger and poverty. This rapid economic growth, however, does not necessarily translate to better conditions when combined with other factors such as nutrition and food security” (WFP, 2016). The country is managing to the best of its abilities to concentrate on the underlying issues threatening food security. Of those issues, the most encompassing is the lack of access to clean water and proper sanitation, which debilitates a population’s ability to survive, actively work, and produce food. In attempt to address this issue, strict government enforcement of standards, non-governmental intervention with affordable technology or means of sanitation, and education is necessary for improving the lives Filipinos.