Hunger is everywhere. We might not think about hunger in America. Do we pay attention to this social issue as much as we should?
SNAP is the universal food stamp program providing many hungry families with a system of purchasing your food.
According to “Food for Thought” on NPR, these SNAP benefits are enough to keep people fed. They highlight the statistic that one-third of families on SNAP still have to visit a food pantry.
It seems that there are many negative factors to a program like SNAP. The cultures of different eating styles, obesity, sugar addictions, lack of education about health eating and purchasing of food, and lack of healthy options.
Hunger and poverty go hand in hand, affecting the lives of many people who are not able to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
One recommendation is for SNAP distribution to be given on a bi-weekly or weekly basis instead of monthly, therefore allowing for meal planning within a shorter time frame.
Another solution to hunger and bad health is a recommendation to lower the price of produce. Lowering the price of produce allows these healthier, non-processed foods to look more affordable and appealing to purchase.
Research shows that lowering the price of fruits and vegetables by 30% would save nearly 200,000 lives over 15 years.
A study was done that gave more money for SNAP but only to use it for fruits and vegetables and showed that the participants of this study did indeed consume more produce.
With these results and suggestions, it seems like there is a feasible solution to hunger. What are your thoughts on other methods to eliminate hunger and promote health eating?
This is interesting to think about. I love the concept of encouraging individuals on SNAP to consume more produce and nutritious foods however increasing the price or completely not allowing SNAP users to buy sugar laden and processed foods takes away the option for the person on SNAP to choose for themselves. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that nutrition in our nation especially nutrition for the poor is lacking but completely deciding what a family should or shouldn’t eat is taking away freedom from the SNAP recipient. I know a few people on SNAP and if they were not given a choice of the type of food they could by they would feel like some of the freedom has been taken away. For those individuals in which eating high sugar and fatty food is there choice and even if they had the money to do so they would not purchase more nutritious foods. However, if some sort of incentive program was in place which added a certain amount of money of SNAP depending on the amount of healthy food they buy that doesn’t harm the wallets of families that want to eat un-nutritious food is in place I believe that would succeed and encourage individuals to eat healthier without punishing the individuals that don’t want to.
My first thought when I read this post was how hard it is for people who are facing hunger to get food but also to get food that will not just fill them up but nourish them as well. This go me thinking about the quality of food vs. the quantity and if we gave more quality food to the hungry maybe we would not have to give as much? Because from my won experience I know that the better the food is and the more protein it has the less I need to eat to be full. It is so important for kids especially to get proper protein and have a balanced diet when they are growing up. Without proper protein kids and adults become malnourished and can become sick. But this whole problem could be fixed by one simple solution, healthier food. I liked your suggestion of a garden that would produce fresh fruits and veggies. Also the idea of lowering food prices seems like a good idea too. So my question is, why hasn’t action been taken in those directions?