Food
Deserts and Nutritional Starvation in America:
What
Can Be Done?
There is rising concern these days about the
obesity epidemic occurring in America.
For the past 30 years, American’s waistlines have been expanding and
citizens and politicians alike have been asking why. Many believe the answer to this problem is educating
children; teaching healthy habits at an early age in order to avoid obesity in
their future. Michelle Obama’s Let’s
Move campaign and the NFL’s Play 60 are two examples of organizations geared to
motivate children to move their bodies and make healthier food choices. Unfortunately, these organizations are only
addressing a portion of the problem. The
federal government estimates that 23.5 million people in America live in a food
desert and roughly 49 million Americans are suffering from nutritional
starvation. [i] A food desert is defined by an area without
affordable fresh food or full-service markets. [ii] Nutritional starvation occurs when a person
isn’t consuming enough natural nutrients that can be found in fruits and
vegetables.
Food deserts are common in both rural and
urban communities that are typically defined as low income. These areas may or may not have had
supermarkets in the past, but a time came when the supermarkets decided it was
no longer financially feasible to keep their stores in these locations. Supermarkets were moved to the suburbs and
small convenience marts and fast food establishments became the only viable
options to local residents. Large
produce manufactures deemed it too inconvenient or costly to drive their semis
out to the rural communities or into the densely populated cities. With the lack of fresh produce available in
these locations, nutritional starvation quickly became a problem in these low
income areas. Many low income residents
lack the financial means to travel far distances via car or bus to the suburbs
to shop in the well-stocked supermarkets.
If they are able to get out to the supermarket, they then have to deal
with the challenge of rising food costs.
Because of farm bills and government subsidies, corn, wheat, rice, and
soybeans have become cheaper for large food manufacturers to buy and to then
produce nutritionally lacking foods.
Pair this with the declining food stamp program, and a family is forced
to make hard decisions when it comes to nutrition verses feeding the whole
family for a week.
To buffer the rising costs of food and the
declining food stamps, many people turn to charity run food pantries and soup
kitchens. While these charities are
serving a need in their communities, they are often confined to giving or
serving foods that are high in preservatives, sodium, and fat. According to Janet Poppendieck the author of Sweet Charity: Emergency Food and the End of
Entitlement, “A national study released in 1988 found soup kitchen meals
frequently deficient in fruits, vegetables, and dairy products.” She also notes the high percentage of snacks
and sweets given out at many food pantries much to the chagrin of food pantry
directors. Supermarkets often donate
bulk foods to food pantries and unfortunately, it is the junk food that sells
in their stores, thus it is junk food that fills their shelves. [iii] Again, it is what sells because it is what is
cheapest for low income families to purchase.
The effect that nutritional starvation has on
people, especially children, can be anywhere from temporary to lifelong
struggles. If a child is nutritionally
deprived within the first three years of their life, their development years, it
“affects their cognitive development and ability to get along with others,
their stature, their weight, and their brain at a much deeper level.”[i] Beyond
the development age, hungry children have “significantly more episodes of
fatigue, dizziness, headache, and inability to concentrate.”[iv] For all age groups, a person could be eating
a large number of calories, but nutrients are either completely missing from
the diet or the once live nutrients have been destroyed in the food through
methods such as added preservatives.[v] This leads directly to obesity, diabetes, and
high blood pressure in adults. In other
words, if a cheeseburger, fries, and a soda can cost less than four dollars off
the dollar menu at a fast food restaurant, while a bag of lettuce and a pound
of chicken breast can cost upwards to ten dollars at the supermarket, a low
income person is likely to choose the meal with the higher calories and lower
cost. When a person must choose this
option on a regular basis, they are not getting the nutrients a healthy body
requires to function properly and thus pounds are added over time. Partner this with the low income families who
live in food deserts and suddenly the dollar menu or convenience store becomes
the only option as fresh lettuce and chicken breasts cannot even be found
within the community.
So the question is, what can be done? First of all, fresh foods need to be brought
into the community. Nationwide, local
farmer’s markets are on the rise and many are occurring in or around food
deserts. Not only are these markets
bringing fresh food directly to the consumer, but they are also cutting out the
middle man…the grocery store. Farmers as
well as consumers benefit from this one-on-one interaction. The farmer is getting paid directly, while
the consumer is able to interact with the farmer and ask them questions such as
how to prepare certain foods. Plus, the
cost of the food is more manageable to the average low income family. Some markets have even evolved to accept food
stamps so all may benefit within the community.
Community gardens are another tool being used
today to help educate and feed low income families in both rural and urban
areas. But when farmers markets and
community gardens aren’t available, it’s typically local charities that step up
to provide fresh food to those in need.
In the rural community of Mulberry, Indiana, one pastor saw this need and
decided to do something about it. The
Stone Soup Food Pantry in Mulberry is a small, two room operation that relies
heavily on the donation of non-perishable foods from local organizations such
as churches and schools. Pastor Mike
Crawford of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church had an idea to make the pantry better. He began Katie’s Commons, a nonprofit
community garden on Gloria Dei’s church grounds, where 100% of the produce
grown will be donated to the Stone Soup Food Pantry and to be distributed among
their clientele. Pastor Crawford
consults the food pantry on what to grow and members of his church and the food
pantry help in maintaining the garden.
Along with giving fresh produce to those in need, Katie’s Commons also
offers education on nutrition and gives out seeds to those families who wish to
start their own gardens.
An organization with a similar mission is located
in the urban community of Denver, Colorado.
The Metro CareRing Food Pantry also places a large emphasis on access to
fresh foods and nutritional education.
Metro CareRing distributes between 4,000 to 6,000 pounds of food, baby
items, and personal care products to up to 500 people every day. By working with local grocery stores, farmers
and gardens, 62% of that is nutritionally live food. Along with food donation, the MCR places a
large emphasis on nutritional education in the form of classes, one-on-one discussions
with shopping assistants and allowing clients to get their hands dirty in the
onsite garden. In my own experience as a
volunteer at the Metro CareRing, I can see how excited people are to be able to
choose from a huge selection of fresh produce.
Many clients unfortunately need assistance from a number of food
pantries and they mention how they have enough peanut butter and snacks, common
items distributed by food pantries. At
MCR, each client is given a personal shopping assistant so they may pick out
every item they take home. Each is
allowed to fill a large shopping bag with fresh produce and so many are
grateful for the chance to eat healthy food for the week.
Unfortunately, charities can only do so
much. Jeff Bridges, actor and cofounder
of the End Hunger Network, says, “Charity is a great thing, but it’s not a way
to end hunger. We don’t fund the
Department of Defense through charity.”
Meaning we need to be looking beyond charities and to local, state, and
federal government to assist us with this need.
The Food Research and Action Center has come up with seven essential
strategies to achieve America’s goal of ending hunger, which will also help in
ending food deserts and nutritional starvation.
1.
Restore
economic growth and create jobs with better wages for lower-income workers.
2.
Raise the
incomes of the lowest-income workers.
3.
Strengthen
the SNAP/Food Stamp Program.
4.
Strengthen
the child nutrition programs.
5.
Engage the
entire federal government in ending childhood hunger.
6.
Work with
states, localities, and nonprofits to expand and improve participation in
federal nutrition programs.
7.
Make sure
all families have convenient access to reasonably priced, healthy food.[i]
Until all of these goals are met, I believe
everyone can get involved in this fight in one way or another. Here are some simple ways to help out in your
community: 1. Donate time or money to your local food pantry. 2. Discuss food
deserts with your local city council members and what can be done to bring in
fresh food. 3. Assist with a local community garden that is committed to
donating its produce to those in need. 4. Support local and federal candidates
who want to make positive changes with the SNAP/Food Stamps Program and with
the Farm Bill/Government Subsidies.
While it’s true that America has a problem
with obesity, it’s important to keep in mind that being healthy isn’t always an
option for low income families. Food
deserts and nutritional starvation are a large factor in keeping the waistlines
up in low income communities. To combat
this problem, we must first educate the general public on the growing number of
hungry families in our own country. Low
income families aren’t lazy or unwilling to eat healthy. They are nutritionally starving because they
do not have access to fresh produce in their own neighborhoods. Once we can solve this problem, then we can
put more emphasis on nutrition and fitness education. And then we will start to see a shift in the
number of obese children and adults in America.
[i] Pringle, Peter. A Place at the Table: The Crisis of
49 Million Hungry Americans and How to Solve It. New York: PublicAffairs,
2013. Print.
[iii] Poppendieck,
Janet. Sweet Charity?:
Emergency Food and the End of Entitlement. New York, NY: Viking, 1998.
Print.
[iv] Winne, Mark. Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the
Table in the Land of Plenty. Boston: Beacon, 2008. Print.
