Not only are there few places to buy healthy food, many children in the population we are describing come from families that can’t even afford to buy a healthy meal. Urban neighborhoods with high rates of unemployment and poverty are suffering from food insecurity (McMillan). The South Bronx alone has the highest rate of food insecurity in the country; that is 37 percent compared with the 16.6 percent for New York City as a whole (McMillan). A 2000-calorie diet consisting of low-energy but nutritious food costs $36.32 a day (Parker-Pope, 2007). Compare this to a 2000-calorie diet consisting of junk food that costs $3.52 a day; Families from low-income neighborhoods that are crammed with fast food restaurants will choose the latter diet because
