Food Insecurity In Native American Reservations

Food Insecurity Have you ever had an experience where you’re hungry so you decide to head to your fridge to see what you have to eat, but once you open the door you’re left disappointed because you don’t have anything to eat? But in reality you have a lot food inside your fridge and you just don’t want to eat any of it because nothing looks appetizing at the moment. Many people often take the food they have available for granted and fail to realise that there are people who are forced to travel miles to a grocery store. Once they make it to the store they are also limited as to what they can buy because they most likely spent all of their money on gas for the ride to the store. Due to the lack of funds, families only options of food to purchase is typically junk food because it is the most inexpensive. Food insecurity in native american reservations has been an ongoing issue and has created health, social, distance, and poverty problems within reservation communities. Food insecure communities have higher rates of …show more content…
The issue of food insecurity has also been linked to higher rates of behavioral health challenges in adolescents- these issues surrounding the lack of food can impair household and community growth. Food insecurity also lowers the quality of life for native americans by showing a decline in mental health due to the anticipation of being stigmatized by others and the internalization of these negative beliefs can lead to depression and anxiety- making them feel outcasted and isolated. These same communities also struggle with high rates of suicide, as reflected in recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control. Among AIANs ages 15 through 34, suicide rates are 1.5 times higher than the national