Food Insecurity in the United States

FOOD INSECURITY IN THE UNITED STATES
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Introduction
In 1996, the World Food Summit defined food security as “a situation where all individuals have physical, economic and social access to enough, nontoxic and healthy food that meets the individual’s balanced diet needs and preferences for an energetic and healthy life”. On the other hand, it defines food insecurity as an individual’s lack of access to enough, balanced and safe diet. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 2016, more than 870 million people around the globe have been facing chronic hunger for the past two decades. There is need to eliminate this problem to ensure there is economic prosperity. One cannot solve the challenge of food insecurity without addressing the crucial factors that influence it.
The major factors that affect food security include the level of agricultural production, global trade, household income and level of a country’s political stability. The multidimensionality of food security according to USAID (1995) fall under its availability, accessibility, utilization and long-lasting stability. In 2000, world leaders set out to halve 1990 extreme poverty and hunger by the end of 2015. The global food security can be observed from the immediate point of global food availability that influences both national and local food supply which affect the pattern of household consumption that consequently determines the nutrition level of its members.

Causes and consequences of food insecurity
Various factors influence the level of food insecurity. Some of these causes differ between the developed and developing countries. In the developing countries, the primary cause of food insecurity includes regional conflict, political instability, climate change and poor farming methods. These factors lead to a low volume of food production, and hence the underdeveloped countries end up being over-dependent on food aids. On the other hand, the main cause for food insecurity in the developed countries includes increased urbanization, population growth, and uncertain climate change.
Moreover, the effect of food insecurity poses a challenge to a country’s economic productivity and individual wellbeing. Persistent food insecurity causes malnutrition especially in children, lactating mothers, and the elderly. Malnutrition causes low immunity among children that leads to increased mortality rate from illness such as diarrhea, respiratory infections, and other preventable diseases. Also, it leads to stunted growth and poor cognitive ability. In the US, disability, low education level, and irregular household income are highly associated with food insecurity. Food insecurity may lead to increased crime in the urban areas. Also, a food insecure individual is accompanied by anxiety that leads to stress and hence low productivity.
The Multi-dimensions of Food Security
Availability
It is a condition where the available food quantity is enough and of the desired quality. As the demand for food increases due to a rapidly growing population, advanced method of production is needed to meet its demand. Although making food more available by increasing agricultural production is an effective way of combating food insecurity, it must be complemented by accessibility.
Accessibility
Food can be said to be accessible when all the people have sufficient entitlements to enough food that is balanced in the diet. In this case, entitlements can be described as the resources available to an individual in the society considering the social, economic, and political setup. The accessibility of food is highly dependent on the prevailing economic conditions such as employment level which influences the income level of an individual and his/her purchasing power. The accessibility of food by household will automatically affect the quality and quantity that each member consumes. Thus food accessibility influences the individual level of utilization.
Utilization
This entails how the body absorbs and assimilate the food into the body organs to offer sufficient energy and nutrients. This level of wellbeing is affected by other environmental conditions such as hygiene, level of health care, food preservation safety and sanitation. It is, therefore, a clear indicator of the food security level in a community.
Stability
This refers to the country ability to overcome emerging shocks that may affect food security. These shocks can either be cyclical or irregular, but the stability of the other three dimensions is what determines the level of food security. The stability in food security ensures that its available to the community at all times despite the seasonal changes. Food security’s stability should not be affected by sudden changes in natural, social, political and economic situations.
Measures of Food Insecurity
Food insecurity differs among families and individuals in the society based on its severity and the period it last. The concept of seasonal food security falls between chronic food insecurity and transitory food insecurity, two common types of food insecurity. Further, various measures are used to identify the level of food insecurity. The most used measures of food insecurity are the FAO and USDA. The USDA conducted its first measure on food security in 1995. In 2006 by the guidance of Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) the USDA added new labels in assessing household food security the while methods remained constants. The US households food security report is prepared annually using the data from Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey and that from national food security survey conducted on a monthly basis.
On the other hand, in the 2002 FAO symposium, five measures were developed for measuring food insecurity. The first three methods relate to the availability of food while the last two concern nutrition’s intake and households’ perception of food insecurity respectively. To have an in-depth understanding of food insecurity, it is vital to understand the criteria used in these two methods.
U.S. Department of Agriculture measure
The USDA is on the frontline of promoting capacity building in many countries. The primary justification for doing this is to ensure a sustainable market for the US industries as a result of an improved economic condition in those countries. First, the USDA defines hunger as an involuntary deprivation from food intake that results in psychological discomfort and pain. The Census Bureau provides the data used in analyzing the status of the food security in the country. To capture the data on food insecurity, the survey uses questionnaires that collect information on family size, composition, the incidence of whether the family or a member had to skip a meal. Also, the frequency of the anxiety of obtaining the meal or the occurrence of lacking any meal during the year. The survey tool contains three questions and sometimes five if there is any child in the family. The USDA measures offer good insights into the various circumstances that lead to lack of food. However, it does not give a clear indication of the point at which hunger strike. The food security of households is divided into four categories with their varied characteristics. The four ranges are as described below:
High food security – a situation when the individual or a household has no problem accessing a balanced diet consistent with his/her preferences.
The condition of marginal food security – The individual or household usually face difficulties in affording quality and safe meals although their intake quantity and quality do not change.
Low food security – this situation is characterized by a change in food preferences and its quality, although the challenges do not change the individual or household feeding patterns.
Very low food security – this situation is not only characterized by a reduction in quality and quantity of food intake but sometimes the food pattern of an individual or households is disrupted due to the lack of enough food though the changes are not substantial.
Further, USDA orders food insecurity into four different categories:
The least severe – Under this category, the home is anxious about whether they will afford a meal in the future. However, the anxiety does not affect the quantity and quality of their food intake.
Relatively more severe – this level of insecurity is characterized by regular anxiety on the household future food, but it does not affect any of the feeding patterns of any member.
Midrange – The expression of this severity occurred when the individual on several occasions had to cut their food quantity as a result of insufficient money to afford a meal.
Most severe – This is characterized by the lack resources to afford any food quantity leading to the lack of at least a meal in one day in the year. The most intense that lead to loss of life is usually referred to as famine.
Besides the USDA method’s contribution in measuring food insecurity, its major weakness is that its categories are not mutually exclusive in their measure primarily due to lack of a predetermined scale.
FAO measure
According to FAO report of 2017, the population facing the challenge of food insecurity increased from 777 million to 815 million. Besides that, the population affected by undernutrition dropped significantly all around the globe. On the other hand, other key indicators such as child nutrition level increased over the world. The FAO uses data of calories per capita of each country to measure food security and the prevalence of undernourishment. The calorie intake per capita is obtained by considering the country survey on household income and expenditure. For this method to be a success various measures are to be considered these include; aggregate annual calories available, population total, the standard coefficient variance of intake in the country, and lastly the baseline value for minimum caloric intake requirements.Simplicity in its implementation is the primary advantage of using this method. Thus it is easy to acquire the country calories per capita. In addition to this, the method is also less expensive and easy to update the information for future use.
However, the method has continued to face some drawbacks on the assumption made in arriving at the estimates. For example, dietary preferences and quality of each household are varied, and these disparities are not considered in the form of quality. Another issue is considering obesity as a sign of improved food security due to higher caloric capita intake, whereas the current trend associate obesity with food insecurity.
Difference between hunger and food insecurity
USDA defines hunger as “a condition that arises from food insecurity due to prolonged involuntary lack of food intake. It consequently causes discomfort, sickness, weakness, or pain, and unusual body irritation.” About hunger, it extends beyond the common craving for food to a situation that might require clinical attention. Food insecurity is the lack of certainty in an individual of the availability of their next meal. Sometimes food insecurity is characterized by a change in quality, quantity or meal pattern for household members. Thus, food insecurity does not necessarily mean that one has to experience an urgent need for food, but hunger is derived from food insecurity.
Crucial data on US Food Security
Data from USDA on food security indicates that in the year 2016, 87.7 percent of the US households were certain about the availability of their next meal. The other 12.3 percent experienced some food insecurity sometime in the year, and only 4.9 percent could be said to be in the very low food security situation. MeagerVery low food security situation implies that at some point the household member had to change their food quantity as a result of insufficient money to cater for their normal meal.
The food insecurity level in the US shows a downward trend from 14.9% in 2011 to 12.3% as at 31st December 2016. Further, the expenditure on food by the food secure households was above the average income spent by the food-insecure families by 29 percent. Furthermore, 59 percent of the US households were found to have participated in food assistance programs in the past few months. In the United States, there are varied data on food security among different states. The lowest food insecurity was in Hawaii at 8.7 percent and the highest in Mississippi at 18.7 percent. Also, the food security level among children remained relatively in the same range at 16.5 percent compared to the previous years at 16.6 percent.
According to the Bread for World Organization, approximately over 42 million individuals in the US are faced with food insecurity. Among this number include one child out of six in the total population. Further, the report states that on average the Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to face food insecurity compared to the entire US population. More than 60 percent (two-thirds) of Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program recipients are children, people living with disabilities and the aged.
In the fiscal year 2016, SNAP benefits cost $70.9 billion, and were distributed to about 44.2 million Americans, which represents 14% of the population. The program has helped families afford basic diet as well as generated business for retailers, hence boosting local economies. It accounts for 10% of food that US families buy. The trend in food security in the US shows that it’s far from achieving the 2010 goals of reducing the level of food insecurity by half in five years period. As the US total population continue to expand accompanied by an increase in income, food demand is expected to increase. According to the World Food Program, food demand by 2050 is expected to be twice the current one. Thus there is need to increase the production level, especially in the developed worlds.
According to the USAID updates on January 19, 2018, the US government is committed to reducing poverty and prevalence of stunted growth by 20 percent in all their areas of operation within the next five years. The U.S. government and other stakeholders have established programs and policies aimed at ensuring a secure food future. For instance, it has initiated the Feed the Future initiative which fights hunger both at national and global level. Through the initiative, the U.S. government can develop the agricultural sector both in the U.S. and in the countries that are in partnership with the U.S. Some of the progress being made in ensuring food security for all include fostering economic prosperity among households. The commitment by the US government is expressed by their effort to achieving the United Nations Global Sustainable Development goals as outlined in September 2015 declaration.
The United States by partnering with World Bank work to build capacity for improved food production by advocating for climate-smart agricultural method especially to affected families across the globe. Some of the campaigns carried out by the non-government organization to redistribute the excess food that could go to waste have made adequate progress. For example according to Food Forward Organization 2017, on average, they rescue more than 300 thousand pounds of surplus food every week that could probably go to waste in their fight against hunger.
Among the key progress being made include increasing the social protection for the most vulnerable in the society, in addition to encouraging policies that increase wealth redistribution. These policies will increase the aggregate demand in the economy and the long run, lead to more improved agricultural production to meet the increased demand. Also, there is need to invest in the agricultural supply chain to make them more efficient and build more sustainable markets. Furthermore, encourage farming of more diverse crops varieties in addition to increasing financial support in research and innovation in agriculture.
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