Food Insecurity Research Paper

The widespread epidemic of obesity is currently plaguing a seemingly successful nation and attempts to find a solution have not been successful so far. As contradictory as it may sound, the cause of obesity in the United States stems from a lack of specific types of food, namely nutritious food. Because of this, many people with low incomes and their families turn to the inexpensive alternative that is commonly known as “junk food.” The presence of high caloric and fattening foods have become increasingly abundant in our society due to a variety of reasons, mainly on how the government supports the agriculture industry and the accommodation for people with low incomes that cannot afford food. The ability to not be able to access food at all times to healthy food is known as food insecurity. The United States has become the largest corn producer in the world, with over 80 million acres of land exclusively devoted to growing it …show more content…
Because of this, the government bought many commodities to distribute to people with low income. Presidents such as John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson were strong supporters of this concept. Unfortunately, in 1981, the program experienced enormous budget cuts during the Ronald Reagan administration, which triggered a rise of food insecurity in the 1980s. Now named the Food Stamp Program, the program remained widely used in the 1990s to counteract the growing amount of food insecure people and was utilized by an increased amount of people. In 2008, its name was changed again to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and began to include emphasis on delivering healthy and nutritional food to its recipients. Today, SNAP is the largest food assistance program in the United States. It currently serves an estimated 14% of the