The Issue- What's Going on?
Food Poverty Can Be Caused By Many Factors:
- Affordable? Can low-income families afford to buy healthy food for their families? Some low-income familes think of the expense of food being "flexible", which means they can buy less food or less nutritient food to save money, which are cheaper and faster. As a result, these families eat less, and don't get the healthy diet they need.
- Available? Do grocery stores close to these families have healthy food availible? Fresh produce, like fruits and vegetables, don't last very long, takes a lot of work to keep fresh, and don't earn the stores lots of money. Which means that not all grocery stores will have fresh produce availible.
- Accesible? Are there enough grocery stores or are they close to where someone lives? In some places, there is a lack of grocery stores in towns. In other places, the grocery store just might be too far away, added with limited transportation, not many families can access these stores to buy the food they desperately need.
- Educated? Are families educated enough to know what is a healthy diet? If families don't have the knowledge or skills to chose the correct foods for their diet, then they won't get the nutrition they need. They need to be educated on what foods are healthy or not healthy, how to understand the labels on foods, and healthy eating messages.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), there are 13.1 million kids-all under the age of 18-who don't always have access to nutritious foods. And that's only in the United States! Think about the children around the world that are in the exact same situation! That might be partially because their families are affected by the factors that cause food poverty.
Child Hunger Statistcs:
What are Some Problems Familes Can Face Because of Food Poverty?
One consequence of food poverty is health problems, such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, or undernurtition (also known as malnutrition), and more.
- Research provides some evidence that eating more fruit and vegetables can cause certain types of cancers, so it is important to have a well-balanced diet.
- To reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, you can increase the amount of fiber and wheatgrains in your diet, and cut down on the amount of sugar, salt, and fat.
- The more overweight a person is, the higher chance they have of having cancer, cardiovascular diesease, an type 2 diabetes.
- Undernutrition (or malnutrition) is the lack of 1 or more nutrients (usually fruit or vegetables) from a poor diet.
Another consequence of food poverty stems from the health problems that were just stated. To treat these dieases, a lot of money must be spent, which could cause economical problems for a family. That would cause the family to be on a low budget, with money being spent to help a family member, and result in the family having to buy less healthy food and/or less food. From that low budget, the whole cycle will start all over again.
Many people are affected by food poverty, and need YOUR help!