User:Emmazeko/Hunger in the United States

Legend: Italicized writing is from the original article

underlined writing is what I suggest adding to the article

Food Justice
''Food Justice is a social movement approach to combating hunger. Food Justice seeks to provide greater food access to all communities through the creation of local food systems, such as urban agriculture and farmers markets. Locally based food networks move away from the globalized economy to provide food solutions and needs appropriate to the communities they serve.'' The Food Justice Movement specifically aims to address to disproportionate levels of food insecurity facing communities of color. Organizations in the movement often aim to reduce the high prevalence of food deserts and lack of nutritious foods seen in neighborhoods of color.

''Race and class play significant roles in the location of food deserts and high food insecurity. Historically, communities of color have been subject to policies and laws that reduce their ability to be self-sufficient in food production. Community members past and present work as farm laborers while their own communities do not have power or access in their own food systems. As a result, communities of color are susceptible to economic segregation, and healthy food is more likely to be more expensive than in wealthier areas. Because of this history of inequality, there are growing projects to promote and enable low-income and people of color to create sustainable food systems.''

Food Deserts
''Location plays a critical role in access to affordable and nutritious food. People who live in food deserts are more likely to experience food insecurity because food is harder to obtain based on where they live. Living in low-income, low access communities that are considered food deserts can prevent individuals from easily accessing healthy food markets and grocery stores due to lack of availability.'' Lack of access to grocery stores often leads to reliance on corner stores and convenience stores for food. These stores usually offer less nutritious foods, which causes dietary issues in food insecure populations, such as high rates of diabetes.

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Private sector hunger relief
''There are several federal laws in the United States that promote food donation. The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act encourages individuals to donate food to certain qualified nonprofit organizations and ensures liability protection to donors. Similarly, Internal Revenue Code 170(e)(3) grants tax deductions to businesses in order to encourage them to donate healthy food items to nonprofit organizations that serve low-income populations. Lastly, the U.S. Federal Food Donation Act of 2008 encourages Federal agencies and Federal agency contractors to donate healthy food items to non-profit organizations for redistribution to food insecure individuals. Such policies curb food waste by redirecting nutritious food items to individuals in need.''

Perhaps add onto this paragraph by discussing possible issues of relying on surplus food for food aid.

These policies have also created debate over whether it is sustainable to rely on surplus food for food aid. While some view this as a "win-win" solution as it feeds people while reducing food waste, others argue that it prevents either issue of food waste and food insecurity from being systematically addressed from the root issue. It has also been found that there is commonly a stigma around people who rely on donations to feed themselves. Individuals are unable to shop for food in grocery stores, they are told that surplus food is an acceptable way for their need to be addressed, not all of their nutritional needs may be met, there isn't always consist amounts and variation of food available to those in need, and it takes away from a solution that would fully address people's right to food.

History: 20th Century
The USDA Economic Research Service began releasing statistics on household food security in the U.S. in 1985.

In the 1980s under Reagan's administration, the Task Force on Food Assistance formally defined hunger in the US for the first time, stating it was a social phenomenon where one doesn't have the means to obtain sufficient food. This differentiated it from the medical definition of hunger, and meant that people could be considered hungry even with no physical conditions. Starting in 1995, a Food Security Supplement was added to the Census to gather data on how many Americans struggle to acquire food, a survey that remains in place to this day. In 2006, a review of USDA hunger measurements led to the separate definitions of "food insecure" and "hungry", and created different levels of food insecurity based on data measurements.

In 1996, the Welfare Reform Act was passed, making EBT the mode of delivering benefits to participants in the Food Stamp Program. This act also gave states more control over administering the program, and added limitations to who was eligible for benefits.