Food insecurity/access to nutrition (Lexi Zavitsky

Food Insecurity/Access to Nutrition

Defined as a lack of access to enough food to live an active, healthy lifestyle. It often results from a lack of financial resources. Unlike hunger, which is measured at the individual level, food insecurity is measured at the household level.

Major Causes

Figure 2: Misselhorn A, Hendriks S. A systematic review of sub-national food insecurity research in South Africa: Missed opportunities for policy insights. PLOS ONE. 2017;12:e0182399. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0182399

Effects of Food Insecurity:

- Prevents growth and learning in children - Leads to chronic diseases and health complications - Nutritional deficiencies

L E G E N D : R E D - F O O D I N S E C U R E Y E L L O W - M O D E R A T E L Y F O O D I N S E C U R E G R E E N - F O O D S E C U R E

Figure 3: FAO Hunger Map 2015 - World. ReliefWeb. Accessed March 1, 2021. https://reliefweb.int/map/world/fao-hunger-map-2015

"1 in 4 households globally experienced moderate to severe food insecurity [in 2020]" - NPR

Who is Affected?

Anyone can be affected but most affected populations in US are... 1. Seniors 2. Children 3. African Americans 4. Rural Communities

5. Latinos

Most affected global regions (as seen in map): 1. Central to Southern Africa 2. Southern Asia 3. Central America

Efforts to Combat Food Insecurity:

1.

2.

3. Reduce food waste Plant crops that require less water Close the agricultural yield gap (through better utilization of land) National and International programs: Feeding America The World Food Program Action Against Hunger

"In my opinion, lack of resources is not a problem that leads to food insecurity, but rather lack of ability to effectively distribute the resources world wide. There is enough food produced in the world, but only certain populations get the food, and unfortunately, most of the remaining food is wasted rather than distributed to the remaining populations."