The Importance Of Food Poverty In The Food System

Food is a highly unique commodity, for though it is essential to every single person on earth, there is no other commodity which is acquired and consumed in such diverse ways. It is a multifaceted social instrument, serving to connect people across cultural boundaries while simultaneously drawing lines through society, dividing people across race and class. Though we have discussed the connections between certain alternative food movements and the creation of a ‘white’ identity, I contend that the social mechanisms of food extend beyond the production of ‘whiteness’, and are intricately bound up in the creation and perpetuation of other racial and class identities in Western society. As the ways in which we consume and engage with food

“In the earliest surviving texts on European farming, agriculture was interpreted as two connected things: agri and cultura, and food was seen as a vital part of the cultures and communities that produced it. Today, however, our experience with industrial farming dominates, with food now seen simply as a commodity, and farming often organized along factory lines (Pretty 54).” In the essay “The Pleasures of Eating” by author Wendell Berry, he criticizes how today’s urban population is so blind to how their food is produced and how the food industry does not help people understand. Berry wants to educate and convince his urban consumer audience how to eat responsibly, shop locally, be informed of where of food comes from, and how to grow their

One does not necessarily expect books about food also to be about bigger ideas like oppression, spirituality, and freedom, yet Pollan defies expectations. Pollan begins with an exploration of the food-production system from which the vast majority of American meals are derived. This industrial food chain is mainly based on corn, whether it is eaten directly, fed to livestock, or processed into chemicals such as glucose and ethanol. Pollan discusses how the humble corn plant came to dominate the American diet through a combination of biological, cultural, and political factors. The role of petroleum in the cultivation and transportation the American food supply is also discussed. A fast-food meal is used to illustrate the end result of the

All food should be available to all people. The concept of this is dwelled on in the article, “Food justice and Food retail in Los Angeles” by Mark Valliantos. Throughout the article, Valliantos maintains the notion that healthy food should be within everyone’s reach, yet inner cities are still suffering from shortages of fresh produce. To see this issue in action, Valliantos documented this reoccurring phenomenon in Los Angeles. The author gives a description of two areas within the city of Los Angeles, and how they are economically divided based on the amount of healthy produce one has at its disposal. He makes note of programs that already exist to help low income families receive healthy foods that they could not afford. He also

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

Ruth Tam's article, "How It Feels When White People Shame Your Culture's Food- Then Make It Trendy" (2015) effectively demonstrates the extent to which how immigrants feel when their traditional foods become the scorn of white people through telling personal narratives, and using of primary sources as evidence.

As a result of the pervasive power of racism, African Americans and Latino’s consume a high fat and nutritionally low diet, which contributes to their declining health by increasing their a susceptibility to disease. According the American Heart Association (2013), African Americans have a greater chance of contracting heart disease and a 15% higher mortality rate as opposed to their white counterparts, illustrating not only the high prevalence of disease in minorities, but the alarming health disparities plaguing the United States health system. Although, more amicable/civil to blame proximate risk facts of the individual such as their individual diet and exercise habits, it blindly ignores the systemic oppression of residential segregation. Health disparities stem from various factors including a poor nutritional diet; however, all come back to one inescapable conclusion that the oppression of African Americans and Latinos due to residential segregation and institutionalized racism is directly responsible for the influx in chronic disease. The aggregation of minorities into low income communities leading to limited access to fruits and vegetables, paired with the financial burden of healthy eating trap these minorities in a pervasive, toxic cycle, which begs the question: how does residential segregation and institutional racism shape African Americans and Latino’s diet? and What are the consequences of a high fat, nutritionally low diet?

Sarah Henry is a journalist who usually writes about nutrition and local foods. Her intended audience for this article are minorities interested in farming. Penniman raises a local farm with fresh foods and wants people to have access to fresh produce. This is a great article for my unit three essay because this essay talks about a way to solve one of my problems the lack of healthy food or (availability). This article is also great for my essay because the ideas of local farms also fix the problem with processed food.

In response to the growing trends in the current food system and the change of the notion of food, Allison Blay-Palmer, draws, through her tactful book, Food Fears, the alternative and mainstream of North American food systems. Throughout a deep understanding about the food system and its evolution, she describes various ways, by relying on grass roots and meaningful individual activism as alternatives to change the food agriculture while building up a new food system that embodies social and ecological values as the foundation for future growth.

The food that is tossed is no longer consumable according to most Americans. Americans produce fast crappy food and turn around and throw it away. Most don’t think about the production side of things, because we have created a society where most things are readily available, causing us to become greedy and unintentionally blind to the production process. The author of “What my Bike has taught me about White Privilege” states, “they don’t really earn what they have.” This article briefly uses the analogy of riding a bike on a highway to “white privilege”. If we would apply his quote to food production and how we treat the way food is produced, then we would see that most Americans don’t have the time to think about the products that they are consuming and how they are produced. It may seem that the way we eat in America is due to uncontrollable greed, we are striping agriculture and worsening the world on which we were given. Jared Diamond the author of “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race” argues that agriculture is the issue that worsens all of human culture. Although it may not be the worst mistake in all of human

For quite some time now, food has been at the forefront of people’s lives throughout the world. Eating has become a tradition, as food keeps us alive, healthy, and well. The importance of agriculture and farming is something that should not go unnoticed. Even just sharing a meal with somebody is intimacy, it has brought us closer together than ever before. Marcie Cohen Ferris, author of “The Edible South: The Power of Food and the Making of an American Religion”, takes a closer look at how food has brought a sense of togetherness but also the separation and tension that is running rampant through society today. She examines ideas of segregation and civil rights, and how food was able to play a pivotal role in some of America’s most historic moments.

both argue that food issues should be addressed by public policy. To combat hunger, malnutrition, and growth deficiencies in children, Frank argues that public policy relating to food has to be changed. Poor families should be supplemented with federal grants such as WIC vouchers to care for their young ones. Robertson et al. take a slightly different approach in their article “Food is a Political Issue” by not only holding the government accountable for reducing issues associated with food, but also the food producers and suppliers. Who should decrease the health disparities and care for the disadvantaged members of society? Robertson et al. advocate that although health disparities caused by food have to be primarily tackled through government policies, the health disparities are everyone’s problem and have to be addressed by everyone— from government officials, to religious groups, to the farmers and food suppliers

Americas feel all superior to other countries because we have freedom, civil disobedience, and are given all the necessities to prosper. If so, why are American who live in the lower income areas has a shortage of healthy foods at their disposal? Kristy Blackwood and Iris Mansour acknowledge the clear fact to why a called a first-world country has millions of people struggle with not having the access to the suitable food to help combat the issue of obesity in the nation. In “Transforming Food Deserts and Swamps to Fight Obesity” an article that appeared in The Huffington Post, by journalist Kristy Blackwood argue how access to healthy produces in not prevalent in low-income neighborhoods, which are highly dominated by Blacks and

In the story The Good Food Revolution, Will Allen talks about his struggles as an African American male trying to live out his dream of sustaining a profitable farming career while doing well for the community. What started as a small roadside market is now a national business which helps low-income families gain access to healthy foods and also helps build a better community. Throughout his journey, Allen experienced countless setbacks and was exposed to several issues dealing with race. Access to healthy food is a struggle for the poor, and in particular, African Americans.

We live in an age in which we have come to expect everything to be instantaneously at our fingertips. We live in an age of instant coffee, instant tea, and even instant mashed potatoes. We can walk down the street at 5 in the morning and get a gallon of milk or even a weeks worth of groceries at our discretion. Even though it is great that food is now readily available at all times, this convenience comes at a price, for both the producer and the consumer. Farmers are cheated out of money and are slaves to big business, workers and animals are mistreated. And, because food now comes at a low cost, it has become cheaper quality and therefore potentially dangerous to the consumer’s health. These problems surrounding the ethics and the