Food Deserts

In a time of abundance, some Americans are experiencing hunger and/or nutritional problems. These problems have been linked primarily to food deserts. Food deserts can lead to hunger by making it difficult for people to access grocery stores, physically and financially. Food deserts can also lead to nutritional problems as experts see a rise in the amount of food being consumed at fast food restaurants.

The availability of grocery stores and the inability to access them for various reasons has caused food deserts to appear across America. A food desert refers to an area with minimal access to foods needed to maintain healthy diet. However, fast food restaurants are typically prominent in these districts. What is creating these food deserts? There are multiple reasons for these food deserts. One is the actual physical access to grocery stores. Some people do not have means of transportation to grocery stores that are further away than desired. Some people only have access to public transportation and do not feel comfortable taking their groceries on the bus, subway, or in a taxi. On a more personal note, I had a good friend back in my hometown who I worked with at a local grocery store. He had no means of transportation and he found it difficult to purchase groceries and carry them home. He experienced nutrition problems to say the least. Food deserts cannot only be created by physical access, but by financial access as well. Government assistance programs are designed to help low income families, but they have limited funds. Many grocery stores are located in places where the most money can be made. This concept often limits lower income families to a few possible supermarkets. This drives people to consume food from other sources such as fast food restaurants and small convenient stores. Food deserts then arise in areas like this and contribute greatly to nutritional problems. Americans have seen a spike in fast food consumption. These meals are typically unhealthy and lacking significant nutrition, as I have experienced firsthand by tracking my food consumption with the help of a food journal. The existence of these food deserts has greatly contributed to the hunger and nutritional problems in America’s time of abundance (from lecture slides).

Another possible source of hunger and nutritional problems can be seen on college campuses across America. Most students have no voice in what food is served at their university. Many college campuses offer minimal healthy alternatives to students. Students are making unhealthy food choices, which leads to nutritional problems. Many students also have little financial access to more nutritional foods. For example, consider the price of a watermelon compared to the price of a package of ramen noodles. The choice of many college students are the ramen noodles because they are cheaper and fit into the budget well. These unhealthy decisions lead to nutritional problems especially among college students (from Cafeteria Consciousness).

Food Crisis - Sources and Solutions

Countries around the world are experiencing what experts are referring to as a food crisis. Many of these countries are home to some of the poorest people in the world. What is causing this food crisis? Is it as simple as rising food costs, or is there a deeper, underlying cause to the food crisis? And what is being done to assist those in need? Some countries are using a combination of solutions to help the hungry.

The Asia and Pacific region has the largest number of hungry people with 642 million, according to the “What is the right to food?” article. This number seems extremely high compared to other regions around the world. However, take into consideration the amount of people living in this area of the world. The food crisis in the Asia and Pacific region could be due to overpopulation. Consider where this number of people would live. Major cities must continue to expand in order to accommodate a growing population. These cities may be expanding into the rural farming areas, essentially cutting off their own food production. Food must then be imported to in order to meet the growing demand. This could also lead to higher food costs at markets, making it more difficult for low income families to purchase food. However, not much is being done to reduce the effects of the food crisis in this area of the world.

Another area being devastated by the food crisis is Sub-Saharan Africa. According to the “What is the right to food?” article, some 264 million people living in this region are hungry. One major cause of the food crisis in this region of the world is drought. These droughts have caused great turmoil as countries battle for valuable resources. The food crisis in this region could also be attributed to war. During times of war, many products, such as food, are rationed in order to conserve goods for the troops. With food in short supply due to the drought, the war puts a lot of strain on the food production. A short term solution in Malawi has temporarily suppressed the food crisis. Malawi has begun investing in chemical fertilizers to supplement grain growth. The government in Malawi is currently “re-evaluating the program and exploring other options, like using agroforestry to reduce dependency on agrofertilizers. One program the country is exploring is incentives for farmers to plant acacia trees that capture nitrogen from the atmosphere to fertilize the soils” (Who says food is a human right?).

Brazil is one of the few countries that has taken tremendous steps in reducing the number of hungry people. Brazil has instituted policies to increase access to food “by developing farmers’ markets, community kitchens, programs to prepare food for the very poor and other initiatives, a new localized food system was rebuilt from the bottom up in ways that later became a source of inspiration for social programs across Brazil” (Who says food is a human right?).

"Global Food Crisis"

Many experts in today's society claim to have identified a potential "global food crisis." Three major sources of this current crisis include: rising food costs, unusual weather patterns, and Americas inability to assist other nations.

Rising food costs have been a major factor in the current food crisis. A few products which have recently increased in price include: wheat, corn, rice, and many others. The rising cost has affected the global community more than we think. In the words of Lester Brown, "The New Geopolitics of Food," Americans may see only a small "difference between a $2 loaf of bread and a loaf costing maybe $2.10." Whereas, in Jakarta, when the "world price of rice doubles, so does the price of rice in your neighborhood market." There is clearly an unequal distribution globally in rising food costs. Perhaps the people in most need of this minimally increasing food costs would be some of the planet's poorest 2 billion people. According to Brown, "50 to 70 percent of their income" is spent on food. It seems outrageous that some people are struggling to provide their families with two meals a day, while we see the increase in prices at the supermarket as an "annoyance." Two reasons for the rising food costs are attributed to a greater population and more of a demand for food. Rising food costs are a major factor in the global food crisis.

Another major source of the "global food crisis" could be the inability of the United States to assist other nations in their time of need. In 1965, "President Lyndon Johnson's administration shipped one-fifth of the U.S. wheat crop to India," essentially preventing famine. The U.S. no longer assists other nations in this manner mostly because our "safety cushion is gone." Lots of our grains are used to feed animals such as: cows and horses. In the past 5 years, there has also been an increase in the production of ethanol, which is a corn product used as fuel. Many of our farmlands are not used to help produce food for consumption, but rather produce food for alternate purposes. This contributes greatly to our inability to help other nations through this "global food crisis."

A third major factor in the "global food crisis" is the unusual weather patterns seen throughout the world. Brown believes that"a monsoon failure in India, a drought in the former Soviet Union, a heat wave in the U.S. Midwest" have all contributed to a food shortage. Frank Newport of the Gallup believes the food crisis can be seen in our own backyard. He claims that 25 percent of people living in Mississippi have struggled to buy food for their families at least once in the past 12 months. I believe this could be traced back to an unusual weather pattern experienced by residents of Mississippi in 2005, Hurricane Katrina. Global warming is another unusual weather pattern contributing to the "global food crisis." Farmlands are drying out quicker, so there has been a rise in over pumping for irrigation purposes. This in turn depletes the water resources, and eventually, all grains will be imported into the country. According to Brown, this process is currently being seen in Saudi Arabia. One other weather pattern contributing to the "global food crisis" is the formation of new deserts where once fertile farmlands were located. This process is taking place in the northern regions of China at an astonishing rate. Some reports claim that nearly "1,400 square miles of land in northern China turn to desert" each year. This is a major reason why unusual weather patterns are a source of the "global food crisis."