Assignment 16- Emma Tucker

When you picture the face of hunger what do you see? Most people imagine the children living in third world countries. Children whose bodies are so skinny they appear as though they are skeletons. But most of us don’t realize that these kids are not they only ones that are hungry. In America we are facing a huge epidemic, 1 in 6 people are defined as “food insecure” meaning they struggle to provide enough food for all the people in their households. However, the difference of hunger in America compared to other countries is what hunger looks like. Many of the people who are hungry in America are also overweight. And while people typically consider these two conditions as mutually exclusive, they are actually closely linked.  

            Ellen Gustafson, a philanthropist, created the 30 Project which is a nonprofit organization with the focus on the growing relationship between hunger and obesity. Gustafson believes that this epidemic is directly related to the Global Food system, which links countries all over the world and allows food to be shared. She makes the point that hunger and obesity began to rise in the 1980’s when the Global Food System started. During this time there was an exodus in America of the small scale farmers, who were then replaced by a massive farming industry. This new style of farming was focused on mass production and mass distribution. However, with this transition came a major change in what we consume. The production of refined grains, fats and oils experienced a major surge in the 1980’s, and has quickly been increasing ever since.

            And the simple reason for this is it is infinitely cheaper and easier to fill stores with processed foods than it is to fill them with fresh foods. It takes so much time and effort to produce and transport fresh food, and in a world where everyone tries to complete tasks in the most efficient way in order to make the most money, produce doesn’t make the cut. If you walk into any grocery store you find a pack of hotdogs that cost a dollar which is much more affordable and will feed more people than say a head of broccoli that will cost at least a couple of dollars and won’t do nearly enough to feed an entire family. Every family has a choice to spend more money on less amounts of healthy food or spend less money on more, unhealthy food. And the family that is “food insecure” has to make the decision to buy the unhealthy food because they may not eat otherwise.

            Along with the cost of producing and purchasing fresh food, also comes the issue of transporting and distributing in. In order to transport produce, and maintain its freshness and appearance, extra care must be taken into account. The cost of this is astronomical. In the documentary, A Place at the Table, one of the major issues addressed is how the inability to transport healthy food is affecting people, especially those in smaller towns.

            For many companies, it cost too much money to get their products into smaller towns. This is especially prevalent in areas like Appalachia that are to some degree cut off from the rest of the world. Their grocery stores are not supplied with fresh produce, lean meats, etc., so they eat what they can find. This has led to an “outbreak” of what is commonly referred to as Mountain Dew Mouth, which describes the dental and health problems attributed to people in these areas because of the excessive consumption of sugary drinks like soda. However, the main reason this issue is rampant is the sheer fact that cheap soda is all people can afford. Their first choice wouldn’t be to put an unhealthy drink in their children’s sippy cup, but since they don’t have enough money to buy milk it is their only option. And the saddest part of this whole situation is that children who are food insecure are more likely to stay hungry for their entire lives. They also struggle to succeed in school because as the little girl says in A Place at the Table, she can’t focus on school when she doesn’t eat. And this fact should hit home with all of us considering that in our own school system 50% of kids qualify for free or reduced meals meaning that half of the kids we go to school with everyday might not know where their next meal will come from when they are not at school.

            Food insecurity is something that no person should have to struggle with, especially in America where we have more resources and money than the majority of other countries. Changes have to be made in America with our food system for us, and for the rest of the world. Since America was founded, we have been on the World’s stage. We influence other countries in all aspects of life. Most notably though, the food system we have created influences the rest of the world. And we owe it to ourselves and to everyone else to find a way to change it before it destroys us.

            No quick solution to hunger exists. As a generation, it is our responsibility to improve the condition of the food system. We need to work to find ways to produce healthier food at lower costs because if apples became the cheap food and chips became the expensive food, apples would be what families are able to buy. It is as simple as that. While contributing to local food banks and organizations like Feeding America are wonderful options to contribute to your community, it’s not enough. Major changes need to happen in the farming and food production industry, so food insecurity can be a problem of the past.