Causes Of Food Insecurity

The United States of America is one of the wealthiest countries on earth, but even so, millions of Americans struggle to find enough food to eat every day. Food insecurity is when a family cannot consistently get enough food for the entire house hold to eat. 14 percent of households, around 17.6 million people, were considered food insecure in 2012 (Piontak 75). In 2007, 12.6 million children experienced a lack of food. Food insecurity has many causes, including rising food prices, climate change, population growth, and inadequate income. First, Healthy food is just more expensive because the demand for unhealthy food is higher in the U.S. In addition to this, healthy food is more expensive due to global warming, as crop production is

A food insecure family might cope with food insecurity by, parents skipping meals, reducing food variety, visiting a food bank, and seeking help from friends (Lynn McIntyre 1). After food insecurity, a family becomes very food insecure. At this point both parents and children are forced to skip meals due to lack of funds (Mammen,153). This is level is dangerous because if a child skips meals it can have negative effects. In addition to this, the line between food security and insecurity can be hard to draw because the USDA does not want to run the risk of classifying a food insecure house as secure and not get them the help they need. (Coleman-Jensen

First, food insecurity effects school performance because students who are food insecure tend to have a harder time focusing due to hunger (Huang 383). Next, increased absences and tardiness are associated with food insecurity (Ronald 1). Finally, kindergarteners who experience food insecurity did not score as highly in math, reading and behavioral tests than those who consistently got enough to eat (Mollborn 395). This is because it can be difficult for a student to focus on doing well in school when they are hungry and wondering when their next meal is going to be. In addition to effecting how well children do in school, food insecurity can also effect a child’s mental health. Food insecure children are around ten times more likely to have a cognitive disorder, meaning they do not learn as well or forget information easily. In addition to this, food insecurity is associated with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), anxiety and aggression (Ronald 1). Over all children need to be healthy because a healthy childhood stets the groundwork for a healthy