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Caitlin Cadena

Dr. Santosh Khadka

English 113B

31 March 2020

Food Security more like Insecurity

It comes to no surprise that lack of food resources and rates of poverty have increased

throughout the years. Unfortunately the impoverished of a population are significantly impacted

when tragedy strikes. It has been a challenge to not only increase food production to reach rural

and urban countries but also sell at affordable prices . Sustainable development and security are

issues that need be taken care of immediately. Hunger is a consequence of food insecurity and

can not be left untreated.

​ Food security, according to the United Nations’ Committee is that all people, at all

times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that

meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life. Low income

families and areas where poverty is prevalent are experiencing uncertain availability to safe

foods. Lydia Preuss, a graduate Research Intern at Feeding America, states in her blog “Poverty

and Food insecurity Rates Improved in 2017, but 1 in 8 People Still at Risk of Hunger'' that

“Although more than half of people in poverty report being food secure, these two factors are

closely interrelated.” With the lack of financial resources it will continue to be that way.

Financial resources can come from income earned by household members and other assistance

acquired by private and public programs, including housing subsidies. After the Global Financial

Crisis hit, it impacted any low income families and financial resources pretty hard. So how did
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this crisis that occured in 2007 affect financial resources? Housing subsidies were of course

affected considering the housing market was the epicenter of the financial crisis. Following the

GFC, unemployment rates increased to 10% in the United States and since then it has never been

the same as pre-GFC. Students were faced with college cost increasing as colleges experienced

financial losses as well. It is controversial whether to determine that without a college degree

someone can not support themselves or a family with a low to minimum wage. But with a low

minimum wage job and worrying about other priorities increasing in cost, it is hard to obtain

food or any other resources for that matter. Even for those who did receive the opportunity to go

to college, it still was not greener on the other side as they too struggled finding jobs after

college. Now left with student debt and little to no jobs anywhere, it is difficult to obtain

adequate foods. The most affordable food to live off of in times like those were the ones that

most likely did not benefit them, health-wise.

The relationship of food security and poverty worsened with nutrient-dense foods being too

expensive for low

income areas to

afford. The rich

seemed to be doing

fine, in fact one

could argue the rich

actually got richer

since the financial

Average income lost during recessions for each individual income percentile​ ​ crisis. For decades
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income inequality has been a problem but following the crisis the gap has not been alleviated.

The poorest areas were being left behind and as of 2005, 38.5% of all people in the United States

with low incomes were already food insecure to begin with. Now adding the global financial

crisis impact to an already poverty stricken area it is like adding fuel to a flame. Halil Dincer

Kaya, who did a study of the global crisis and poverty, examines the impact of the global crisis

on poverty rates. In the article,​ “The Global Crisis and Poverty”​ the results were mixed but Kaya

states “our results show that the global crisis had affected the poorest group of people the most.

Therefore, we suggest policymakers to focus on this group of people the most during these hard

times”. So where were policymakers during the time these people needed them the most?

The ones who were there to help alleviate the constant worry of “am I going to eat and

how much is it going to cost?” where the Hunger relief organizations that have been put together

to take charge of emergencies when crises hit. Food pantries, banks, and community meal

programs offered free food to millions of people who are affected in the United States. As we

know the food needs of the vulnerable have been increasing and so have the utilizations of these

gracious programs, but could that possibly be something that needs to be looked into? Brett

Rowland as he discusses the utilization of these meal programs in his article, “ Improving Health

while Alleviating hunger: Best Practices of a Successful Hunger Relief Organization”, he stated

a concerning fact. Rowland communicated that “The number of people utilizing food pantries

and community meal programs in the United States continues to increase because people are no

longer using pantries and meal programs only for emergency food aid, but as one of their

primary sources of food”. Having that source of food on a daily basis can not be healthy either

according to Rowland as he also states “the foods that hunger relief programs offer are not
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always nutritious”. With numerous individuals using meal programs it is possible that those

programs will run out of resources and then those households have absolutely nothing to put on

the table and later have to resort to drastic measures.

If finances are a major contributing factor why healthy foods are not purchased then why

are the prices of food not lowering? Unfortunately they are increasing at a fast rate and

regardless of the price the demand for food stays

constant. Desperate and hungry, the poor have to resort

to difficult decisions in order to make sure not only are

they fed but their families as well. Craig Hadley, author

of “Rapidly rising food prices and the experience of

food insecurity in urban Ethiopia: Impacts on health and

well-being”, talks about how studies have shown

increases in food prices impact everyday lives of the

vulnerable people who are struggling. Hadley expresses

that “Rapid Increase in food prices should therefore ​represent how people now work for food

impact on the well being of the poor in multiple ways…”. Coping strategies have played a role in

food insecurity as the poorest of the population use these strategies to survive the day. To

describe the food they are consuming now, they call it “Poor People’s Food”. Poor People’s

Food is basically defined as food that is inexpensive and available to nourish people in times of

hunger. But the label “Poor People’s Food” did not originate as of recently, people used this to

describe food in times of natural disasters, war or genocide, and of course economic depression.

Other strategies that were used was skipping meals or pretending that they have eaten to trick
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their minds into thinking they have. As extreme as it sounds that was reality, sometimes there

was not enough food to go around and sometimes there was no food at all. The middle class who

were affected as well catched on to seeing how bad the collision low income areas had it. Soon

enough they started using up their savings, selling their assets, borrowing and even

couponing.Wanting to understand what it is like through their perspective and having my father

tell me what I was eating the other day was a delicacy for me but when he was little it was the

only food there was to eat. Knowing that information I decided to conduct an interview with my

father, who had experienced hardship where there was not enough food when he was an

adolescent. I proceed to ask him “how were meals on a day to day basis”? My father replied, “we

had the same meal over and over again..rice, beans, and tortillas” he continued to say “whenever

we were able to have enough money for sweet bread and coffee it was a treat and that didn’t

happen so often”. Lastly, I asked “what has changed as you have gotten older and started to form

a family of your own? Were you worried that there was going to be enough food at one point”?

He responded “ mine and your mom’s worry of history repeating itself for our kids is what made

us work harder to ensure that you guys would never have to worry about things like that,

especially about where your next meal is coming from”. It could be possible that many people

who are experiencing the same thing could be trying to form a difference for their future

generation. Considering how they are barely making it themselves, it is hard to save or change

for their future. Though meal programs do not resolve food insecurity they do make a difference

compared to what has been done and who would agree with this statement would be Clancy Cash

Harrison. As she states the truth when it comes to food insecurity. During her Ted Talk: The

Shocking Truth About Food Insecurity, she argued that “if you have ever utilized a food
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assistance programs...be proud! Don’t be afraid to talk about how it transformed your life...”.

Most individuals will never admit that they need the additional help of food pantries but there is

no reason to be ashamed. Millions of others are experiencing the same thing, in fact the number

of people food insecure makes up the whole population of Canada.

Tom Houston, writer for the The Guardian Lab, explores the curiosity of how we are

going to feed billions of people in the next 33 years in his blog post called “How do we feed the

planet in 2050?” According to Houston, in the year 2050 the human population is expected to be

9 billion people. Instead of writing about how we are not going to have enough food to feed

billions of people, on the contrary he states “The good news is, we already produce enough food

for that many people…” That we have so

much excess food we waste about 1 trillion

dollars per year. If we have that much food

then why is the rate of food insecurity not

dropping dramatically? Despite having too

much food, the meal programs and relief

organizations that have been put into place,

people still confidently believe that

nothing has changed drastically to make ​The current state of hunger in America

a difference. After all these years poverty rates keep increasing causing food insecurity to

worsen. There are 40 million people food insecure and there has not been a decrease. According

to a new UN report, it says that “Limited progress is also being made in addressing the multiple

forms of malnutrition...putting the health of hundreds of millions of people at risk”.​ ​Concerned

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that it is reaching levels that were from decades ago. That this signal is a clear message that this

whole reversal process is warning us that an action needs to be done. There is a lot of work to be

done in making sure no one is left behind as other parts of the world are experiencing the same

food insecurities. Alleviating and coping with these issues can only help at an extent until it is

absolute chaos. We are not actually resolving food insecurity but instead finding ways to live

with it. It is the equivalent of covering a crack in a dam with a finger. There needs to be actions

that actually strengthen the population and capacity of food systems. There is more reason to

strengthen our actions because according to Sandi Pruitt, contributing author to ​“Who Is Food

Insecure? Implications for Targeted Recruitment and Outreach, National Health and Nutrition

Examination Survey, 2005-2010”. Illustrates that “...food assistance is an overlooked factor

associated with health and has the potential to shape future chronic disease prevention efforts

among the food insecure”. The level of urgency this expresses and this is not being taken

seriously and it has just been stalled.

At some point people who are not impacted by this at all stop caring because it is not

their problem to worry about. I confidently state​ ​that those who actually have more than enough

resources can actually make a difference. It is called a community for a reason, regardless of the

gap of income or social status, people come together to help those who truly need it. Of course

there are organizations who truly want to make actions happen and have brilliant ideas to express

but do not have enough publicity or sponsors to make their voices heard globally. This is not an

issue affecting just a certain area, it is worldwide and millions of people are still suffering the

consequences of choices others made, for example the financial crisis. Actions that try to find

shortcuts, become greedy and careless which can be detrimental to others. One of the main
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reasons that the global crisis of food insecurity is being put on the back burner is because not

many people are getting involved and there are not enough people pressuring governments and

politicians to actually do something about it. It is understandable that there are other worse crises

to attend to and have first priority over but throwing this issue under the rug is not going to make

it okay or disappear. In fact it is just going to get bigger and to the point where the economy can

not bounce back. Viewing it through the perspective of someone who does not have to worry

about this issue because they are considerably more fortunate, can account for why these groups

of people may not take it seriously. But imagine being in this position and seeing it only get

worse and forgotten because their voices are not loud enough to be heard. After all those

contemplations and worries, still having to figure out where the next meal is coming from. There

are many obstacles that come with food insecurity and one of them is understanding how to

redesign the food system to be healthy, affordable, accessible and most importantly resilient to

crises.
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Works Cited

Cadena, Alan. Interviewed about experiencing lack of food resources. 22 March 2020

“Global Hunger Continues to Rise, New UN Report Says.” ​UNICEF​, World Health

Organization, 11 Sept. 2018,

www.unicef.org/press-releases/global-hunger-continues-rise-new-un-report-says.

Hadley, Craig, et al. “Rapidly Rising Food Prices and the Experience of Food Insecurity in

Urban Ethiopia: Impacts on Health and Well-Being.” ​Social Science & Medicine (1982)​,

vol. 75, no. 12, 2012, pp. 2412–2419.

Harrison, Clancy Cash. “The Shocking Truth About Food Insecurity.” Tedx Talks. 21 Dec. 2016.

https://youtu.be/HakCAdPrlms

Huston, Tom. “How Do We Feed the Planet in 2050?” ​The Guardian,​ Guardian News and

Media, 13 Sept. 2017,

www.theguardian.com/preparing-for-9-billion/2017/sep/13/population-feed-planet-2050-co

ld-chain-environment.

Kaya Halil Dincer. “The Global Crisis and Poverty.” ​Studies in Business and Economics,​

vol.13, no. 3, 2018, pp. 63–73.

VanNortwick, Mary, et al. “Poverty and Food Insecurity Rates Improved in 2017, but 1 in 8

People Still at Risk of Hunger.” ​Hunger and Health​, 27 Sept. 2018,

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Pruitt, Sandi L, et al. “Who Is Food Insecure? Implications for Targeted Recruitment and

Outreach, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2005-2010.” Preventing

Chronic Disease, vol. 13, no. 10, 2016, p. E143.

Rowland, Brett, et al. “Improving Health While Alleviating Hunger: Best Practices of a

Successful Hunger Relief Organization.” ​Current Developments in Nutrition,​ vol. 2, no. 9,

2018, p. Nzy057.

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