How Much Can You Make on Food Stamps
The term "food desert" paints an accurate picture of a dire state of affairs that many Americans face daily. In short, a food desert is a geographic area where residents' admission to affordable, nutritious nutrient is limited or nonexistent because of a lack of convenient grocery stores.
The nonprofit Food Empowerment Project (FEP) rightly points out that the term "food desert," equally defined by the U.S. Section of Agriculture (USDA), is problematic considering information technology centers on "proximity to food providers, rather than considering other factors such as racism, cost of living, people being time poor and greenbacks poor, cultural ceremoniousness of bachelor foods, [and] the ability of people to grow their ain foods." The FEP besides notes that "food apartheid" and "nutrient oppression," although less common, are more than authentic terms because they bespeak to the systemic issues that force folks into nutrient deserts.
So, how widespread is food oppression? According to a 2017 study from the USDA, about 39.v million Americans alive in low-income and low-access areas (or what the USDA has termed "food deserts"). Of these nearly 40 million people, half have limited access to full-fledged supermarkets or grocery stores. Without a doubtfulness, food deserts — that is, food oppression — underscore(s) the various inequities that exist in the United States, and, in turn, create additional wellness-related challenges for folks living inside them. We aim to explore the pervasiveness of food deserts in honor of National Poverty Awareness.
If y'all aren't impacted by nutrient oppression, you might call up of the backlog of food institute in supermarkets and big-box stores. But many Americans don't have the privilege of so many options — or any user-friendly, nutritious options at all. The Annie Eastward. Casey Foundation has found that so-called "food deserts" often share some, if non all, of the following characteristics: they are located in areas with smaller populations; feature higher rates of abased and vacant homes; and are home to folks who take lower income and education levels. Additionally, unemployment rates are frequently college in food deserts.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Academy plant that the availability of high-quality food and supermarkets is linked to "racial residential segregation, poverty, and urbanicity." Regardless of geographical area (rural vs. urban), Blackness Americans are disproportionately impacted, oft living in areas deemed food deserts.
The same inequality and lack of access disproportionately affect Indigenous and Latinx people likewise. That is, neighborhoods and communities with predominantly BIPOC residents characteristic fewer stores, greater distance between homes and stores, and fewer community resources that could assistance folks access food and supermarkets, such as a lack of feasible public transportation and infrastructure.
There isn't just ane cistron that causes nutrient deserts. Several contributing factors include transportation challenges, convenience food and income inequality. "When researchers from Brown University and Harvard University studied diet patterns and costs, they found that the healthiest diets — meals rich in vegetables, fruits, fish and nuts — were, on average, $ane.50 more than expensive per twenty-four hour period than diets rich in processed foods, meats and refined grains," the Foundation notes. "For families living paycheck to paycheck, the higher toll of salubrious food could arrive inaccessible fifty-fifty when it'due south readily available." Moreover, folks who receive SNAP benefits don't always take admission to nutritious foods, based on the parameters of the program.
How Does Food Oppression Relate to Healthcare?
So, how does food oppression relate to healthcare and your well-beingness? In many means, it boils downwards to a person's ability to cull. In so-chosen food deserts, there's not simply a lack of options, but cost can too figure into the decision. "Many nutrient deserts contain an overabundance of fast food bondage selling cheap 'meat' and dairy-based foods that are loftier in fatty, sugar and table salt," FEP notes. "Processed foods (such as snack cakes, chips and soda) typically sold by corner delis, convenience stores and liquor stores are usually simply as unhealthy."
Moreover, folks navigating nutrient oppression may also have difficulty accessing foods that marshal with their dietary needs or restrictions. For those with celiac affliction, lactose intolerance or other food allergies, this can cause an affluence of issues. Without larger chain stores, alternatives — like nut-based milks, for case — simply aren't available. Just just because the options may exist in certain areas doesn't mean folks can always access them. FEP reports that "urban residents who purchase groceries at small neighborhood stores pay between three and 37% more than suburbanites buying the same products at supermarkets."
Although relying on fast-nutrient products and other processed goods may be the just financially feasible option for some, diets that middle on these foods in the long term can take lasting consequences on your wellness. These lower-quality foods are oftentimes linked to college rates of Type two diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other wellness conditions. Pair this with the fact that both fatphobia and racism have been long ingrained in the healthcare and medical industries, and you can showtime to understand the challenges folks confront when seeking intendance and support.
And then, what can exist done to dismantle food oppression? While funding programs that tell the states all to eat healthy may be nice in theory, these campaigns exercise very little to accost the real problems. That is, such campaigns displace the blame, centering "eating healthy" as a choice. But for many, at that place is no selection to begin with. Instead, supporting small stores and locally sourced farmers' markets and growers can have a huge impact, for example. Moreover, expanding SNAP benefits, incentivizing grocery stores to motility into "food deserts" and offer affordable nutrient, and fighting for policy reform can all help create lasting change.
Resources Links:
- "Food Deserts" via Food Empowerment Project (FEP)
- "Low-Income and Low-Supermarket-Access Census Tracts" via U.Due south. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- "The Intersection of Neighborhood Racial Segregation, Poverty, and Urbanicity and its Touch on on Food Store Availability in the United States" via John Hopkins University | U.S. National Library of Medicine
- "Do healthier foods and diet patterns cost more than less good for you options? A systematic review and meta-analysis" via Brown Academy, Harvard University | BMJ Journals
- "Food Deserts in the The states" via The Annie E. Casey Foundation
- "How to Employ for SNAP Benefits" via Reference.com
- "Racism Is Officially a Public Health Threat, but Will Healthcare See Changes?" via Inquire.com
Source: https://www.symptomfind.com/health/what-are-food-deserts?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740013%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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