Food Insecurity

Food insecurity is defined by the inability to acquire adequate food due to insufficient money and other resources for food. Food insecurity can be divided into two categories, low food secure and very low food secure. Very low food security is determined when the eating patterns of individuals or households are disrupted and their food intake is reduced at some point during the year, due to inadequate finances. People with low food security, at times, cannot acquire adequate food because they have insufficient money, so they avoid substantial reductions in food intake, and change their intake to just a few basic foods. Overall, reducing the variety of their diet, as opposed to eating less food.

The prevalence of food insecurity in 2008 shows a spike in both food insecure households and individuals, but plateaus at this point. The reason for the drastic increase in food insecurity is due to the recession which hurt the economy and made it difficult for people to purchase food. Since 2008, approximately 17 million households were food insecure, while 48-50 million of those were food insecure individuals. Food insecure children also hit the highest during 2008, but decreased slightly since then. 

There are questions used to assess the food security of households, as in the Food Security Survey based on the Current Population Survey. Answering often, sometimes, or never true in the last 12 months to questions like, “we worried whether our food would run out before we got money to buy more,” “we couldn’t afford to eat balanced meals,” and “in the last 12 months, did you lose weight because there wasn’t enough money for food” could determine if you are food insecure. Households are still considered food secure if they report no food insecure conditions or only one or two food insecure conditions from the list.

The following data is the prevalence of household food insecurity. Mississippi has the highest percentage of food insecurity in 2010-2012 of 20.9, with low or very low food security. The lowest percentage of food insecurity is 8.7 in North Dakota. Looking at only very low food security, percentages ranges from 3.2 in Virginia to 8.1 in Arkansas. 

After adjusting for inflation of food prices, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients became more food insecure from 2009-2011. The maximum SNAP benefit declined by about half from 2009-2011. Prior to the SNAP-benefit increase in 2009, the benefit for each household adjusted upward with inflation. Now as SNAP benefits remain fixed, as inflation raises prices, households are forced to get less food.

Assessing the prevalence of undernourished people around the world, Asia is the nation with the most undernourished people with 552 million people, but when looking at the prevalence of undernourishment, Africa has the highest percentage of 21.2%.

The FAO views food security as four dimensions, food availability, access to food, food utilization, and stability. Food availability ensures there is enough food to a given population. Over the past two decades in developing countries, food supplies have grown faster than the population, resulting in more available food per person. Access to food is based on two pillars, economic and physical access. Economic access is determined by disposable income and food prices, while physical access is determined by availability and quality of infrastructure. Food utilization conveys the impact of inadequate food intake and poor health. Stability includes equipment such as irrigation to combat drought, and reduction in risks like swings in food and input prices. 

Ghana is just one example of a few countries that halved the prevalence of undernourishment since the beginning of the 1990s. Creating new policies and reforms help increase food production with in return increased GDP, reduced poverty, and reduced undernutrition. These three areas work hand in hand when increasing the well being of people around the world. 


Literature Cited

http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err-economic-research-report/err155.aspx

http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err-economic-research-report/err151.aspx 

http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3434e/i3434e.pdf

International Agricultural Development

 

In a world that is becoming more intertwined and related every day, the topic of international development, and international agricultural development is gaining attention and importance. Agricultural development is especially important because of the world hunger problem. Roughly 842 million people were considered undernourished in the years of 2011-2013 (FAO).

For this week's topic, we turned to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to gain insight on "Foreign Aid to Agriculture."

What can be said about the overall trend of total or bilateral foreign aid aimed at agriculture? 

 

After analyzing figures 7 and 8 of this report, it is clear that overall, aid distribution has been declining over the years. In this portion of analysis, economic infrastructure and services, transport and services, and communications were evaluated. In general, aid increased from the 1970s until the mid 1980s. Aid then decreased from the 1980s until 2006, and increased slightly in 2008. However, the major declines outweigh the minor increases.

What can you say about the (changing) composition of agricultural aide from the early to late 2000s?

The composition of agricultural aid has indeed changed. It is true that agricultural aid has declined over the years, but that is partially due to the shift in priorities of aid divisions. For example, decreases of aid in the share of small scale irrigation and crop production were seen, whereas there was an increase of aid to the prevention of illicit drugs.


Next, we examined an article about agricultural development in India by John Vidal called "India's rice revolution." This article highlights a story of success in India's rice production.



Sumant Kumar photographed in Darveshpura, Bihar, India. Photograph: Chiara Goia for Observer Food Monthly

In what three crops did farmers from the village of Darveshpura and neighboring Bihari break yield records?

Sumant Kumar, a native farmer in India, grew 22.4 tonnes of rice on one hectare of land - which is a world record. Another farmer in the village broke a world record for potato production. After Kumar broke the world record for growing rice, a small farmer in the near by village of Bihari broke the world record for wheat. These records have attracted interest throughout India, and also the world. How are these farmers achieving such success? The answer: SRI, or System of Rice Intensification. Other crops such as yams, tomatoes, garlic and sugar cane have had success with this system as well.

What is the SRI System?

 

Typically, when planting rice, farmers take 3 week old seedlings and plop them into the ground. Unlike the old system, the SRI farmers are able to use half as many plants. They carefully nurture the seedlings and transplant them when they are younger. The rice plants are also spaced farther apart, so that the soil will be drier. Farmers carefully weed around the plants as well, so the roots receive more air. By adopting SRI techniques, farmers use less seeds, less water, and less chemicals and gain much higher yields. Arguably, this strategy would be more labor intensive. But when talking about small farmers, the SRI creates little to no added work.

 

The Food, Diet and Health

Recommendations under “Foods and Nutrients to Increase”

1. Increase vegetable and fruit intake.

2. Eat a variety of vegetables, especially dark-green

and red and orange vegetables and beans and peas.

3. Consume at least half of all grains as whole

grains. Increase whole-grain intake by replacing

refined grains with whole grains.

4. Increase intake of fat-free or low-fat milk and

milk products, such as milk, yogurt, cheese, or

fortified soy beverages.

5. Choose a variety of protein foods, which include

seafood, lean meat and poultry, eggs, beans and

peas, soy products, and unsalted nuts and seeds.

Increase the amount and variety of seafood

consumed by choosing seafood in place of some

meat and poultry.

6. Replace protein foods that are higher in solid

fats with choices that are lower in solid fats and

calories and/or are sources of oils.

7. Use oils to replace solid fats where possible.

8. Choose foods that provide more potassium,

dietary fiber, calcium, and vitamin D, which are

nutrients of concern in American diets. These

foods include vegetables, fruits, whole grains,

and milk and milk products.

Five “Diet-related Chronic Diseases”   

1. Cardiovascular disease – 81.1 million Americans have cardiovascular disease. Major risk factors: high levels of blood cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, overweight, physical inactivity.

2. Diabetes – nearly 24 million people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. About 78 million people in the U.S have pre-diabetes, means that blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be called diabetes.

3. Hypertension –74.5 million Americans have hypertension. Major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, and kidney disease.

4. Cancer – about 41 % of the U.S population will be diagnosed with cancer during lifetime. Dietary factors are associated with risk of some types of cancer: breast, colon, kidney, larynx, mouth, and esophagus.

5. Osteoporosis – bone disease that is characterized by a decrease in bone mass and density which can lead to an increased risk of fracture.

Top ten 10 sources of calories for “overall” consumers (age 2+), based on NHANES 2005-6 data

   Rank 1 to 10: grain-based desserts, yeast breads, chicken and chicken mixed dishes, soda/energy/sports drinks, pizza, alcoholic beverages, pasta and pasta dishes, tortillas/burritos/tacos, beef and beef mixed dishes, and dairy desserts. 

    a. For items we eat less of than we should, the calories from solid fats and added sugars seems to be the hardest to attain the limits, with 280% of usual intake. The easiest item to attain recommended limits is saturated fat, with 110% of usual intake.

   b.  For items we eat more of than we should, calcium seems the easiest to attain the recommended goal, with 75% of usual intake. The hardest to attain the goal seems to be the whole grains, with only 15% of the usual intake. 

Compare the usual U.S. diet against the “Mediterranean” diet 

compared with average consumption in the U.S, these patterns feature increased amounts of vegetables, fruits, beans and peas, whole grains, fat-free milk, and decreased amounts of solid fats, added sugars, and sodium. The Mediterranean patterns do not specify amounts of whole grains; however, intake of refined cereal grains is typical for these patterns.