The Freshman 15: More than Just for College Students[KA1] Within our colleges and cities, fresh food can be nearly impossible to obtain. Whether it be because of geographic inaccessibility, or economic hardships, these areas are often classified as food deserts. But why are food deserts so prevalent in our society? The answer is that they are manmade. Food deserts arise when people move into low-income areas isolated from fresh food. Fast and processed food has been pushed onto those of the lower class, and made it so that these foods rich in fat and added sugar are more readily available than those full of nutrients. There is a desire and a need within this niche for fresh food. The problem is that the supply is not available to
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To obtain this information, I created a survey and shared it over Twitter. Of the 66 students, that responded, 80.5% said they wished that they could have better access to this food. Now it is true that the ability to cook may have hindered the sales of food to college students, only 12% said that they cooked daily. But 47% of people said that a fast food restaurant was closer (0-1 miles) than a grocery store (1-2 miles). The fact that people are not cooking is not attributed to a lack of ability, but rather a lack of availability. How can a student or person within the lower class be expected to obtain fresh food when fast food is easier to obtain? Fast food has a choke hold on these demographics. College students have a choice of cafeteria food, i.e. hamburgers and pizza, or fast food restaurants in the area surrounding campus. Those in the cities of places like Chicago, have nearly no access to a grocery store and their only true option is to eat out[KA3] . An independent research group, named Mari Gallagher, found in Chicago, the average distance in the entire city to a fast food …show more content…
Eric Holt-Gimenez’s article “The Fight Over Food Deserts: Corporate America Smacks Its Way Down” states that subsidies are already in place, but for the wrong people. The money is being given to big box companies like Walmart in exchange that they go into smaller areas (Holt-Gimenez 525). The problem with this is that they take as many jobs as they create. Local business cannot compete with companies of this scale and thus would be put out of business. By funding local businesses, they would be more likely to deal with local farmers, keeping the money in the community. The food epidemic needs to be solved on a local scale. Providing money to companies who care about the community and want to see the area healthier is what is important. In Chicago, there is already a push for more co-op style grocers, so if the government provided the necessary start up that in place, then the increase in tax revenue could make up for the
To obtain this information, I created a survey and shared it over Twitter. Of the 66 students, that responded, 80.5% said they wished that they could have better access to this food. Now it is true that the ability to cook may have hindered the sales of food to college students, only 12% said that they cooked daily. But 47% of people said that a fast food restaurant was closer (0-1 miles) than a grocery store (1-2 miles). The fact that people are not cooking is not attributed to a lack of ability, but rather a lack of availability. How can a student or person within the lower class be expected to obtain fresh food when fast food is easier to obtain? Fast food has a choke hold on these demographics. College students have a choice of cafeteria food, i.e. hamburgers and pizza, or fast food restaurants in the area surrounding campus. Those in the cities of places like Chicago, have nearly no access to a grocery store and their only true option is to eat out[KA3] . An independent research group, named Mari Gallagher, found in Chicago, the average distance in the entire city to a fast food …show more content…
Eric Holt-Gimenez’s article “The Fight Over Food Deserts: Corporate America Smacks Its Way Down” states that subsidies are already in place, but for the wrong people. The money is being given to big box companies like Walmart in exchange that they go into smaller areas (Holt-Gimenez 525). The problem with this is that they take as many jobs as they create. Local business cannot compete with companies of this scale and thus would be put out of business. By funding local businesses, they would be more likely to deal with local farmers, keeping the money in the community. The food epidemic needs to be solved on a local scale. Providing money to companies who care about the community and want to see the area healthier is what is important. In Chicago, there is already a push for more co-op style grocers, so if the government provided the necessary start up that in place, then the increase in tax revenue could make up for the