Food Security and Accessibility

People are increasingly worried about food shortages and are realizing they can no longer depend on their food system alone. Food insecurity has become a growing concern for people of all races in America.

What is food insecurity?

Food insecurity is the condition of not having access to sufficient food, or food of an adequate quality, to meet one’s basic needs. According to the USDA, more than 34 million people—including 9 million children—are food insecure.

Hunger effects everyone, in all walks of life. Many Americans are just one medical emergency or paycheck away from it. But it doesn’t affect everyone equally. Food Apartheid is defined as a system of segregation that divides those with access to an abundance of nutritious food and those who have been denied that access due to systemic injustice. Lack of access to affordable, nutritious food from a full-service grocery store or restaurant in areas with limited income contributes to obesity, diabetes and hypertension and is linked to the poor diets of people in these communities.

Why does any of this matter?

According to the CDC, in 2010, one in seven people were food insecure. Obesity costs the United States $147 billion annually, and diabetes exceeds $174 billion annually.

Healthy food provides nutrients that aid the body in maintaining good health, and eating a healthy diet means consuming the recommended amount of nutrients. Sounds simple enough.

But what if the barriers to accessing healthy food are greater than the barriers to accessing less healthy options? Some of these barriers may be low income level, location or race. Minority neighborhoods typically have more fast food restaurants per mile than grocery store access or full-service restaurants. This can also be said for low-income neighborhoods. The distance to fresh produce, such as fruit and vegetables has increased considerably over the years, and supermarkets are less likely to be found in low-income and minority neighborhoods than middle-income and non-minority neighborhoods.

So what can we do?

Promote systemic change within the system that actively impacts low-income minority members. Encourage local convenient stores to start carrying more fresh fruit and vegetables on their shelves. Promote community gardens in urban spaces so that people can grow their own nutritious food.

People should have equal access to nutrient dense food and the ability to grow and consume healthy food.