Food Insecurity Assignment

Culinary Institute of America

Edmund Anisjamsu

Sustainable Food Systems (BPSE-351-TRP01)

Robert Perillo

17th March 2024

food, agriculture, natural resources, and other related issues. It is here to serve the American

people by providing practical, innovative, and science-based policies. One of the prominent

issues that they tackle is food insecurity. This is defined as the "limited or uncertain availability

of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable

foods in socially acceptable ways." (Core Indicators). There are various levels of food insecurity

(Measurement):

• Marginal food insufficiency occurs when a household reports having enough to eat but not

always the kind of food they wanted to eat in the last seven days.

• Low food insufficiency occurs when a household does not have enough to eat sometimes in the

last seven days.

• Very low food insufficiency occurs when a household does not have enough to eat often in the

last seven days.

• High food security occurs when there are no reports of issues with food access or limitations.

• Marginal food security occurs when one or two reports of anxiety about food shortages are

accompanied by little to no changes in diet or food intake.

• Low food security occurs when a household is unable to acquire proper food due to insufficient

resources, which reduces dietary quality and variety.

• Very low food security occurs when it leads to the extent that eating patterns are disrupted, such

as skipping meals and significantly reducing food intake.

Statistics
 According to USDA statistics, 17.3% of U.S. households are food insecure (Interactive

Charts). Digging deeper, we see that 8.8% are in households with adults and children, 7.8% of

them are low food insecure, and 1% of them are very low food insecure. Furthermore, more than

48% of the population that are food insecure are employed full-time. I find it ridiculous that

people who work a full-time job and even people with multiple jobs are unable to escape food

insecurity. Among the different races, Black and Hispanic races have the highest percentage of

populations that are food insecure. This trend has been prevalent for more than a decade. Food

insecurity can be linked to structural racism and poverty. It is no coincidence that the two highest

populations that experience poverty are also the Black and Hispanic races. Historically, people of

color have been marginalized and systematically oppressed. It is deeply embedded within the

different complex systems of our civilization. A history of segregation, unequal opportunity for

housing, financial disparity, and unequal access to government resources has led to generations

of people of color being unable to break out of poverty. Black people are five times more likely

to be incarcerated (Mass Incarceration). This leads to ineligibility for certain government

programs such as the Supplement Nutritional Assitance Program (SNAP) and difficulty obtaining

a job.

Food Insecurity Programs

To try and tackle food insecurity issues, several programs can be applied for eligible people.

SNAP provides benefits to low-income families by supplementing their grocery budget. They

will receive monthly funds and the amount will depend on the income level. For a family of four,

eligibility to be in SNAP is $39,000. If you qualify to join SNAP, you are also qualified for the

children's school lunch and breakfast program. Other programs target specific populations, such
as WIC, which focuses on the nutrition of women, infants, and children who are at nutritional

risk.

The problem with these programs is that even if you are eligible for the SNAP program,

there may still not be enough resources for you to escape food insecurity. It becomes especially

worse when families who are beyond the income eligibility and have to lose all the benefits. In

the documentary "A Place at the Table," a family lost her eligibility for not only SNAP but also

her children's free lunch and breakfast. This further causes problems for her financially rather

than helping them . Even with programs to help families, another issue is the lack of fresh and

nutritious food due to living in food deserts. It is found that 23.6% of Americans live in food

deserts, which are places without access to affordable, fresh, nutritional food. These issues are

due to transportation systems being unable to reach them or lack of funding to create stores that

would supply these types of food.

Obesity

People may believe that obesity is linked to an abundance of food. However, it can be linked to

food insecurity and poverty. Since the 1980s, the price of fresh fruit and vegetables has increased

(Silverbush). However, the price of foodstuffs that are made with raw materials that are

subsidized and heavily processed has decreased by 40%. This is typically what we might

consider junk food, which is high in starches, fat, and sugar. Since this is more affordable, people

who are under programs like SNAP would rather stretch their dollar and purchase this junk food.

Due to the lack of nutrient-dense food and high caloric intake, children are likely to become

obese and incur health concerns such as high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes.
 References

Core indicators of nutritional state for difficult-to-sample populations. (1990). The Journal of
nutrition, 120 Suppl 11, 1559–1600. [Link]

Hunger is a Racial Equity. (n.d). Move for Hunger. [Link]

Mass Incarceration. (n.d). Move for Hunger. [Link] -

Interactive Charts and highlights. (n.d). United States Department of Agriculture.

Measurement of Food Insecurity. (n.d). United States Department of Agriculture.

Odoms-Young, A., & Bruce, M. A. (2018). Examining the Impact of Structural Racism on Food
Insecurity: Implications for Addressing Racial/Ethnic Disparities. Family & community
health, 41 Suppl 2 Suppl, Food Insecurity and Obesity, S3–S6.
[Link]

Silverbush, L., Jacobson, K., Skoll, J., Weyermann, D., Colicchio, T., Lurie, C. W., Lurie, J.,
Goldman, J., Harrington, R., Bridges, J., Patel, R., Gold, D. B., Johnson, K., Burnett, T.,
Gavin, M., Tsien, J., & Scott, A. B. (2013). A place at the table. Widescreen. New York,
NY, Magnolia Home Entertainment.