Food Security in the USA
Ahn, Sunjin, and F. Bailey Norwood. “Measuring food insecurity during the COVID‐19 pandemic of spring 2020.” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 43, no. 1 (2021): 162-168.
Despite many people globally considering the United States as a land of unlimited opportunities, the pandemic hit the country’s economic status hard. This led to the deterioration, increased unemployment, and a rise in food prices. Additionally, food insecurity in the country rose gradually due to the decline in the financial status of most households. As a result, an internet survey was conducted in December 2020 to determine how hard people had been affected by the pandemic. The research indicated that though different families were affected differently, all households had been affected by the pandemic.
Additionally, it was noted that those who were more affected included those families with children indicating a 3% increase in the insecurity. Notably, according to Feeding America, there was an expected 50% increase in the need for food assistance among food pantries in all states. Therefore, this indicated the need for the government to implement more measures and efforts in mitigating the damages related to food insecurity as this was a challenge affecting all Americans despite the differences in social classes.
Alpízar, Francisco, Milagro Saborío-Rodríguez, M. Ruth Martínez-Rodríguez, Bárbara Viguera, Raffaele Vignola, Tabaré Capitán, and Celia A. Harvey. “Determinants of food insecurity among smallholder farmer households in Central America: recurrent versus extreme weather-driven events.” Regional Environmental Change 20, no. 1 (2020): 1-16.
Climate change is among the challenges facing most farmers globally due to global warming. Among the most affected are the smallholder farmers’ households, as they depend on the produce as the source of their income. Therefore, food insecurity is a significant challenge in Central America, especially Honduras and Guatemala. During the research, 439 households were surveyed, whereby 56% faced recurrent shortages indicating an absence of food security. The remaining were facing episodic insecurity, while others shared both types. According to the research, most of the food insecurity in the region was related to asset ownership and sociodemographic factors. Therefore, the article advocates the need to develop programs that will aid the farmers by ensuring that the two main factors are eliminated. This includes empowering the individuals by training them, ensuring they can access education, and helping them secure land tenure to give them security while farming.
Arenas, Daniel Jose, Sara Zhou, Arthur Thomas, Jici Wang, Gilberto Vila Arroyo, and Katie Bash. “Negative health outcomes associated with food insecurity status in the United States of America: a systematic review of peer-reviewed studies.” (2018).
Research indicates a relationship between the health situation in the United States and food insecurity in the region. Therefore, the article outlines why most of those affected by health conditions are from underserved populations such as the marginalized and the uninsured. Thus, the government and involved organizations need to address food insecurity in these regions as it will directly relate to health improvement in the United States. To make the article’s conclusion, 1817 manuscripts were analyzed. These manuscripts outlined the relationship between food insecurity and various health conditions such as mental health, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and hypertension. Therefore, to resolve and improve general health in the United States, there is a need to ensure food security in all areas. This will act as a preventive medicine intervention. This will help reduce the high rates of lifestyle diseases in marginalized regions of the country.
Breisinger, Clemens, Olivier Ecker, and Jean-François Trinh Tan. “Conflict and food insecurity: How do we break the links?” IFPRI book chapters (2015): 51-60.
There is a significant relationship between nutrition and food insecurity in conflict-affected regions globally. This issue tends to affect millions of individuals due to conflict; most households cannot access food. Therefore, there is the need to make intervention and policies in these regions to reduce the depth of conflicts as every human have the right to basic needs. Additionally, this will improve the national governance allowing more people to commit themselves to food production, thereby improving food security globally. Therefore, in relation to this article, it is evident that food insecurity is a significant challenge facing most countries globally and requires immediate attention by implementation measures and policies.
Maynard, Merryn, Lesley Andrade, Sara Packull-McCormick, Christopher M. Perlman, Cesar Leos-Toro, and Sharon I. Kirkpatrick. “Food insecurity and mental health among females in high-income countries.” International journal of environmental research and public health 15, no. 7 (2018): 1424.
Food insecurity is a significant concern among most developed countries. The most affected by this challenge are the females, thereby deteriorating their mental health. To derive this conclusion, 31 articles from several databases such as PubMed, PsycINFO, and Embase were analyzed, drawing a relationship between mental conditions and food insecurity. More than three-quarters of the chosen articles indicated a high rate of these conditions amongst women as they make food-related decisions in most homes. Additionally, there was evidence of bidirectional relationships between food insecurity and mental health in females, especially among the vulnerable such as the pregnant, homeless, and refugees. Therefore, the article indicated the need to implement programs and policies to protect women by assuring food security.
Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael, Mireya Vilar-Compte, and Pablo Gaitan-Rossi. “Why identifying households by the degree of food insecurity matters for policymaking.” Global Food Security 26 (2020): 100459.
According to the article, there is a need to utilize food insecurity indicators to determine the levels amongst individuals and households across the country. Additionally, the report portrays the relevance of establishing the levels of food insecurity in relation to policymaking. Levels of insecurity lead to variation in the state of physical and mental health among those affected. Food insecurity is a significant determinant of child growth and development; hence it is considered a federal challenge that must be addressed immediately. Therefore, before making any policies, the involved parties must assess the severity of food insecurity in the affected region by scrutinizing the data obtained at the national, regional, and local levels. Considering this information is essential as it helps make effective decisions to address the nation’s challenges, especially in situations where the country is faced with significant health threats and economic shocks. This helps determine which areas require more financial support, thereby attaining equality in resource distribution in such situations.
Wilson, Michael R. Hunger: Food Insecurity in America. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc, 2009.
Most people consider the United States the wealthiest country regarding food supply. As a result, it is termed the land of plenty as most Americans can afford at least three meals a day and several snacks in between these meals. This is mainly contributed by the availability of job opportunities allowing people to have enough income to purchase these products. Additionally, this can be attributed to the country’s fertility leading to high farm production and culture of the Americans and other inhabitants as most are willing to work to achieve their dreams. On the other hand, there is the untold story of the Americans who are not well fed. This population struggles to put a single meal on their table, and they are never assured of their next meal. Therefore, we argue that despite America being a land of plenty, some people are exposed to hunger. Most are poor people in rural and urban areas, older people who depend only on social security checks, and marginalized groups.
Bibliography
Ahn, Sunjin, and F. Bailey Norwood. “Measuring food insecurity during the COVID‐19 pandemic of spring 2020.” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 43, no. 1 (2021): 162-168.
Alpízar, Francisco, Milagro Saborío-Rodríguez, M. Ruth Martínez-Rodríguez, Bárbara Viguera, Raffaele Vignola, Tabaré Capitán, and Celia A. Harvey. “Determinants of food insecurity among smallholder farmer households in Central America: recurrent versus extreme weather-driven events.” Regional Environmental Change 20, no. 1 (2020): 1-16.
Arenas, Daniel Jose, Sara Zhou, Arthur Thomas, Jici Wang, Gilberto Vila Arroyo, and Katie Bash. “Negative health outcomes associated with food insecurity status in the United States of America: a systematic review of peer-reviewed studies.” (2018).
Breisinger, Clemens, Olivier Ecker, and Jean-François Trinh Tan. “Conflict and food insecurity: How do we break the links?” IFPRI book chapters (2015): 51-60.
Maynard, Merryn, Lesley Andrade, Sara Packull-McCormick, Christopher M. Perlman, Cesar Leos-Toro, and Sharon I. Kirkpatrick. “Food insecurity and mental health among females in high-income countries.” International journal of environmental research and public health 15, no. 7 (2018): 1424.
Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael, Mireya Vilar-Compte, and Pablo Gaitan-Rossi. “Why identifying households by the degree of food insecurity matters for policymaking.” Global Food Security 26 (2020): 100459.
Wilson, Michael R. Hunger: Food Insecurity in America. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc, 200